Have Indian tourists lost interest in Nepal?

Even the peak Indian season is witnessing a dip in arrivals

Abhilasha Rayamajhi
Kathmandu

A few years back, during this season (Indian tourist season), hotels, pilgrimages and tourists spots could be seen flooded with Indian tourists. A total of 41,286 and 45,685 Indian tourists visited Nepal in May to June 2014 and 2013 respectively according to report published by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal. The inflow of Indian tourists dropped to around 5,000 in the peak Indian season in 2015 due to the earthquakes.
However, the trickle had started even before that.In 2015, Nepal received a 13 year low in the number of Indian tourists.The numbers dipped by 55 per cent as compared to the previous year and even today the industry is struggling for revival. In 2014, the total number of Indian tourists to Nepal was 135,343. This is a drop in the ocean when you consider the growing number of Indians travelling abroad every year.

Indian outbound growing 

The Indian outbound is the fastest growing outbound market in the world after China. It is predicted that the number of outbound Indian tourists will reach 30 million by 2018 according to iGATE research report. In 1991 the number of Indian outbound tourists was 1.94 million which increased to 18.33 million in 2014 and the growth is steady. Annually, Indian tourists spend over USD 17 billion and the trend is on the rise.
Due to increase in disposable income, decline in airfare and availability of affordable travel packages Indian travellers are splurging around the world. What is disturbing is that the number of Indian tourists to Nepal has either been static or on the decline. This despite the fact that India and Nepal share common cultural and religious ties. Obtaining a visa and passport is not a prerequisite for visits for Indians to Nepal and while Indian tourists are big spenders wherever they travel, Nepal has not been able to tap this huge market.

Lacking promotions

 “ The hotel occupancy rate by Indian tourists declined by almost 30 to 35 per cent last year,” says Upaul Majumdar, General Manager at Soaltee Crowne Plaza.
According to him, group bookings from India were affected mainly due to the earthquake in April/ May, 2015. However, individual travellers are visiting Nepal for holidays, seminars, conferences, business and other purposes this year. Even the 75,124 Indian tourists who visited last year include people who came to volunteer for relief and reconstruction after the earthquake.
“ Tourists from around the world including Indians are affected by the images of Nepal post- disaster,” says Majumdar. He adds, “ The government has not done sufficient campaigns to promote Nepal as a safe destination for travel.” He explains that concentrated promotional campaigns at the international level are a must for the industry to get back on its feet again.
“ We are engaged in promotional campaigns in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Bangalore in coordination with Nepal Airlines,” says Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO of Nepal Tourism Board. However, the number of Indian tourists has dipped also because of stiff destination competition.
“ Malaysia, Thailand and Dubai seem to be more attractive destinations for Indian tourists than Nepal due to competitive packages and prices,” he mentions. Indian tourists are now flying to other destinations in Asia and around the world as they offer more activities and adventure to indulge in at much more affordable prices.

The real problems 

The cost of flights to Nepal from Indian cities is comparatively more expensive. For instance, the cost of a flight from Mumbai to Kathmandu is IRs 21,765 whereas it costs around IRs 19,000 for the same tourists to travel to Thailand.
Madhu Sudhan Acharya, President, Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, says, “ The focus of travel agents in India has also shifted from Nepal to popular destinations in Asia and Europe.” There has been a series of natural disasters and political problems in Nepal which have had a serious impact on the market. Further, Indian tourists usually travel with family and are more concerned about safety and security. “ Indian travel agents are reluctant to offer packages on Nepal and the Indian tourists also hesitate to visit Nepal. Indian tourists are not here for adventure tourism like mountaineering, rafting or bungee.
Hence, our packages only include visits to pilgrimages, Pokhara and Chitwan,” he mentions. He also adds, “ Due to unfavourable political environment we are not being able to promote new destinations in Nepal for Indian tourists.” While Nepal is currently unable to offer anything new to Indian tourists it has also failed on the marketing and promotion side.
“ The majority of young middle class Indians are not aware of tourist attractions in Nepal. All the concerned authorities need to focus on more publicity and marketing in India,” says Saugat Ratna Kansakar, Managing Director, Nepal Airlines Corporation.
According to Kansakar, “ India has high economic growth and there is vast potential for Nepal’s tourism growth in the middle class population of India.” “ Mainly two types of Indian tourists visit Nepal. The high end tourists who are here mainly for leisure and tourists who are here only on pilgrimages,” says CN Pandey, CEO of Samrat Tours and Travels. The spending pattern of these two types of Indian tourists is also completely different.
Leisure tourists stay mostly in five star hotels and spend more. He says, “ On average, Indian tourists contribute considerably to the tourism sector of Nepal.” “ We are trying our best to attract maximum number of tourists from around the world. However, the government has not taken an encouraging role for revival of this sector,” he laments. Further, he mentions, “ Air connectivity is poor and it is expensive and inconvenient for Indian travellers to visit Nepal.” According to him, it is high time the government took responsibility and aggressively focused on of tourism they claim to be working on making tourism better.
He says that despite the challenges in the system, the government along with Nepal Tourism Board has initiated various interactions and talk programmes with Indian media and journalists. “ Despite the challenges we are optimistic about the future of tourism and our focus is on tourists from neighbouring countries,” he concludes. increasing the number of airlines and developed proper road network and infrastructure.

Delayed development 

When questioned about the delay in development of infrastructure, Prem Kumar Rai, secretariat, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, says, “ Lack of skilled human resource and budget has mainly delayed development work.” He claims, “ Many government officials are political appointees and they are not qualified for the job.
This has caused significant delays, chaos and confusion not only in this industry but in the entire nation.” He says that even though increasing the number of Indian tourists offers huge economic prospects, it is yet to be taken seriously. “ Systematic investment is yet to be made in this sector.
However, in this year’s budget we have prioritised development of infrastructure to attract Indian tourists,” he adds.

What has been done? 

The government has provisions for investment in construction of regional airports in Birgunj, Pokhara, Dhangadi and Biratnagar, according to Rai. “ Especially for Indian tourists we have plans to create a Buddha Circuit from Kanchanpur to Jhapa and also make Pashupatinath a central point to connect with other Hindu pilgrimage sites.” The main objective behind the creation of these circuits is to increase their duration of stay in Nepal.
Now that the government has passed the budget for the revival of tourism they claim to be working on making tourism better. He says that despite the challenges in the in the system, the government along with NTB has initiated various interaction programmes with Indian media and journalists. "Despite the challenges we are optimistic about the future of tourism and our focus is on tourists from neighbouring countries," he concludes.

(The printed version of this article was publishe on The Himalayan Times- Perspectives on June 19, 2016)