Tourism Planning Environments

Tourism is the biggest industry in Nepal regarding foreign exchange and revenue. As the country is located in the heart of Himalayas, it enjoys tourism rush from mountaineers and adventure sports seekers. NTB estimated a total of 598,204 tourists in 2012. The unique feature of Nepal tourism is its wilderness. NTB has special observation like bungee jumping, mountain climbing, rock climbing, bird watching, hot air balloon, trekking and paragliding (Holden 2016).

The purpose of the concerned report is to make a plan on behalf of the tourism board of Nepal to minimize harm to the environment. Before making the plan, the report has prepared a brief account of the position of the agency. Additionally, an in-depth analysis of the background of the company, the need to make the plan and most importantly scope for the proposed plan has been established. Nepal is considered to have an abundance of natural resources; therefore plan to make sustainable development in tourism will be apt to proceed with.

Position Statement:

The concerned person is working for Nepal Tourism Board which is the official tourism organization of the Government of Nepal. The organization is a national level body working under the Ministry of Culture, tourism and civil aviation. The primary role of NTB is to promote tourism in Nepal; it also works to develop and portray Nepal as an attractive destination for tourists. It also aims to create employment opportunities and improve the condition of the economy.

The boards intend to preserve the rich history and heritage of Nepal as well as marketing them to attract tourist both within and without the country. The board has worked to protect the economic rights of the citizen who is engaged in this business activity. The board also formulates rules and implements development programs like tourist service. NTB also initiates environmental projects in tourist attractions.

The internal factors affecting the NTB are an infrastructure of the Nepal tourism sector, the variation of tourists that come to the country, the purpose of the visits and length of stay. The cost condition is an important factor and the quality of services that management has to deliver. The external factors are the role of government and the immigration norms followed. For instance, if the government decides to tighten the security concerns, tourism might decline the economy of the country and the growth rate in the tourism sector.

The goals and objectives that have been formulated by NTB are to offer Nepal to the international community, to expand the tourism sector, to conduct development projects in the backward areas and to develop the economy of Nepal. To address the anomaly, there is a need to understand the economic condition of Nepal (Holden 2016). These sectors should be taken into account and not only has the adventure sported because such activities concern a limited age group in the demographics (Mason 2015).

Background Context:

Nepal, with its vast bio-diversity, is one of the richest countries it the world. In addition to its distinct geographical location, the nation is one of the finest places to reside in terms of cultural and economic resources. According to Saarinen (2013), the recent technological development has lead to an inflow of visitors in the country. Statistically, there has been a whooping increase of 22.7% in the tourism sector. Nepal, a nation of Buddha is home a large number of religious and historical temples. As per government reports the visit of 275,463 tourists in the country has contributed to a financial rise by 80.5%. Concerning the economic situation of the country, tourism acts a major employment source and revenue generation. A large number of visit lead to a rise in employment generation by the hospitality industry. Business organizations are highly concerned about consumer need and preferences and also meet their demands efficiently (Lee 2013). The government along with country residents seeks to learn about the foreign lifestyle and habits. The tourism sector actively promotes understanding and communication among people. Also, interaction with several international food and beverage companies help the domestic communities and firms to develop at the fast pace. Nepal has the opportunity to introduce an active tourism since the country is in a perfect geographical location. There could be extensive marketing about sites like Lumbini which represent a historic significance. With a successful implication of growth rate of overall tourists is estimated to be 10%-12%.  Despite a providing, a variety of advantages, Nepal tourism has a set of distinguished drawbacks. A lack of a well-organized infrastructure and inability to expand product diversification cause a downfall in the industry. As stated by Jovicic (2014), people of the world seek for an extraordinary holiday experience and value for money when visiting the country. An ineffective management in companies consequently causes uneven distribution of investments and breakdown of the employment framework. To maintain a fruitful tourism sector in the country, it is important for the government to conserve its natural and historical monuments that attract visitors. Failure to maximize international relations adds to as an external cause of downfall.

Analyzing the Nepal tourism industry it can be seen there has been an overall downfall in visitors since 2012. The recent government imitative and development of consumer-friendly products has appealed to the world. According to Gössling et al. (2012), the nations travel industry is affected by factors like geographical location, economic, cultural, demographical, political and technical development. Being situated in the northern part of India and bordered by Himalayan Mountains Nepal faces diversity in its climate. Tourism boom in the country is mainly due to the extraordinary scenery of the country. The presence of a strong economic stability appeals to the foreigners in a better way. The nation faced a huge decline and economic breakdown after the 2015 earthquake which with a proper management has shown a positive growth. Being an extensive part of India, Nepal is still innovating and developing its technology to minimize cost and improve revenue. Unlike old times, the nation now faces an immense situation of internal conflicts. The country`s issue of poor political conditions and lack of safety affect inflow of visitors in the country (Mu and Nepal 2016). Keeping all the negativity aside, the rich cultural and religious values of Nepal still attract visitors. 

According to Lew (2014), Nepal faces tough competition in the tourism sector from its neighboring countries. The country needs to develop an efficient promotional strategy to let the people know about their recent developed and improved tourism faculties. The government recognizes the need for an external body to guide the hospitality companies in the right direction. Nepal Tourism Board focuses on the implementation of effective marketing and promotional strategies by business firms. Regarding a sustainable future of the tourism industry, the government in collaboration with local communities, societies and business firm aim to distribute natural resources economically. A growing rate of tourism industry comes with a cost to the ecology (Nyaupane, Lew and Tatsugawa 2014). The issue of tourism on the environment has been a concerning topic to which the government has replied with the formulation of a five-year plan. Also, the introduction of NEGA proved to be beneficial for the country.

Statement of Need:

The tourism industry is the most important sectors in Nepal as it contributes a huge amount of money in both the economy and social sectors. In this context, Nepal tourism board has taken some potential and effective plans through the different phase of the plan period. According to the plans of this tourism board, it is beneficial for developing the cultural, historical and geographical aspect of this country (Center for International Private Enterprise. 2014). With the help of implementing this plan, the above-concerned environmental issues of an earthquake can be mitigated properly along with improving the tourist spot Kathmandu valley. Moreover, it would help to develop the necessary facilities related to the tourist center which would ensure to attract more tourists towards them (Center for International Private Enterprise. 2014).

In this perspective, to fulfill the objectives of the plan, the government takes the main responsibility by which the level of employment, foreign exchange, and environmental awareness can be raised. The Nepal government wants to accomplish the plan by following the policies of improvement in the transportation system, coordination with the other sectors, provide the subsidies, tax incentives and credit support (Briassoulis and Van der Straaten 2013). Furthermore, several business sectors namely HAN, NHS, NATA, PATA and NGO’s take an effective role in correcting the environmental problems. In this context, Samriddhi and NEGA have done the research on the development of hydropower which is a very influential step for Nepal tourism board (Fletcher et al. 2013).

As it is a public organization in Nepal, all the internal and external investors are considered as a part of their stakeholders. The employees, managing committee and higher authority of this board are included as internal stakeholders of this tourism board. Also, all the people of this country along with the shareholders and investors of this organization are considered as external stakeholders through whom the foster growth and development of this organization can be possible.

In the words of Holden (2016), the vast and major economic development of any areas would lead to increase in the unemployment rate by providing the environmental degradation in the economy. As a result, to recover the adverse situation, the development process should be done in the sustainable manner along with the proper use of raw materials. According to Mason (2015), environmental degradation procedure directly affects on the income level of the country which can be analyzed through the Kuznets curve.

Figure: Kuznets Curve

Source: (As created by author)

As per the theoretical concept of this curve, with the increase in income, the level of pollution also raises which would lead to a negative effect on the economy of the country (Dredge and Jamal 2015). In this perspective, the environmental degradation of Nepal for the massive earthquake influences this issue. Furthermore, the tourists are also responsible in this case by throwing out their wastage in anywhere which would enhance to increase the pollution level of the country.

In this perspective, the Nepal tourism board has faced several issues such as inefficient employment structure and poor infrastructure of the economy, uneven distribution of raw materials and resources, lack of ability power in the diversification of goods and services and poor managerial system which is directly related to the environmental issue (Portals.iucn.org. 2016). In this perspective, the agency Prosperity Foundation Samriddhi has arranged the educational programs related to the young generation of the economy which enhance the employment level and skilled labor in the nation. The Nepal tourism board has taken some effective policy namely improve the mechanisms to collect and record the statistical data about ecotourism and establish the natural resource and proper training programs along with the tour operators and park service. In this perspective, the government agency focuses to maintain an equivalent balance between the rules and regulations and tourism industry of the country (Portals.iucn.org. 2016).

Tourism industry businesses greatly depend on the self-developed plans of the nation to cater to visitor demands. The government and business enterprises intervene in this aspect to earn higher revenue including the advantage of sponsorship fees and penalties (Scth.gov.sa. 2016). Moreover, due to the recent massive earthquake, the economic and environmental condition has deteriorated severely which directly affects the tourism industry of Nepal. In this perspective, the government of Nepal wants to mitigate the adverse situation and environmental issues as it has a negative impact on the tourism industry. As tourism industry is one of the main industries of revenue generating and involve in achieving the foster growth, so business enterprises are concerned about it. In this context, this strategy is beneficial for the economy as it would rise in GDP along with the increase in employment level. Furthermore, it would help to develop the tourism industry along with the process of sustainable development (Scth.gov.sa. 2016).

Scope of the Proposed Plan:

Policies regarding tourism planning environment in Nepal can be described as the actions that are carried out by the government and the organizations to ensure sustainability of the environment due to the impact of tourism. The policy ranges from micro to macro level. Various approaches are implemented in the tourism industry in Nepal. The approaches used are community approach, implementable approach and systematic approach (Simão and Partidário 2012).

The community approach is used by the managers of the industry to create an opportunity for the residents to participate in the process of planning in the business. The implementable approach is used to achieve a practical and achievable perspective of the planning of the tourism industry in Nepal. On the other hand, Blowers (2013) mentioned that the systematic approach is used to arrange the activities included in the ecotourism in an orderly manner. Policy instruments are tools that are required to obtain sustainable tourism management. The instruments that are used by the tourism sectors are tourism environmental tax, user fees, financial incentives, eco-labels, quotas and zoning.

The tax is charged from the tourist for environmental purpose. The rate of tax depends on the tourism season in Nepal. The tax is collected in various ways, however; the amount of tax depends on the duration of the tour. The user fees help to obtain benefits from the resources that are used. The financial incentives further alter the consumer behavior by increasing or reducing the price of the goods and services. Incentives help to positively influence the business of ecotourism in Nepal (Altinay, Paraskevas and Jang 2015). The eco-label of the services and the products delivers to the tourist ensures environmental criteria that are needed to be fulfilled. The quotas and the zoning further helps to reduce the negative impact on the environment of Nepal due to tourism activities by restricting the number of visitors at a particular time.

The activities of the government aim for a sustainable future of the tourism industry by implementing environment-friendly policies. Companies of the industry in Nepal are benefitted by the credits supplied by the board of tourism for infrastructure development. The various resources required in the policy planning of the tourism industry in Nepal are people who are expert in effective policy planning, facilities, technologies for communication, pollution control systems, equipment, funds, supplies, safety systems and knowledge regarding threats (Lew 2014). The policy used by the managers of the tourism sector in Nepal helps to create employment in the economy. The development of the infrastructure is also possible due to the policies of the tourism industry. The environment, as well as the culture protection, is possible through the implementation of the policies.

However, the policies have certain adverse impacts that are undesirable. There is a development of illegal economic activities. Moreover, construction of infrastructure for the tourism purpose causes environmental degradation. Based on the implementation of the plan these issues can be effectively converted into benefits for the economy of Nepal. In the words of Cooper (2013), the policies of the tourism business in Nepal help to involve the participation of the government in the activities of the sector. Further, the policies help the organizations to achieve sustainable development in the competitive market of tourism in Nepal.

Proposed Process:

The planning process to acquire sustainable development, the agency has thought first to identify the current issues which the company is facing. In that case, the authorities and higher management of the board have planned to discuss the proposed plan with the governmental bodies of ecology management of Nepal. The authorities and associated trustees have decided that the plan will be executed in a time span of five years as sustainable development in the rural, and the backward places of the domain is certainly not a job which can be done easily. Additionally, a good amount of investment and governmental help is also required in the first place which is supposed to take huge time.

It has been decided that in the initial year, the agency will give focus on to increase the awareness among people regarding sustainability. Hence the organization has planned to organize several public events. These processes will be followed by collecting capitals for developing the backward places and other corporate social responsibilities.

The ultimate consequence will be reviewed by doing a yearly survey among visiting tourists and local people in each five years. However, the authority believes that success will be found if regular tourists will show their willingness to visit unusual and less famous places which have not gain preference for lack of development. The authority has determined that if results turn to take a negative way from the initial year, then they will urge for help from the government and also will try to rectify the found issues. Following this, they will try to reincorporate new strategies regarding their corporate social responsibilities.

Conclusion:

By referring to the above analysis, it can be inferred that the environment has a partial impact on the economy of the Nepal highlighting the tourism industry. The growth of the tourism industry of this country has deteriorated through the process of environmental degradation and pollution issues which also indirectly affects the income level and unemployment rate of the economy. In this perspective, the government body and business enterprises are concerned about this issue and by intervening in this system, the above-concerned sectors want to mitigate this problem and develop the current situation. Also, during the time of correcting the adverse situation, these sectors follow the way of sustainability development.

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