Entrepreneurs banking on short treks for lean season

Trekking entrepreneurs that so far relied heavily on long trek to reap the most during the peak business season, which ended in November, are now hoping to do better business in a lean period as well -- thanks to the newly developed short trek packages.

In its attempt to ensure round the year business, Trekking Agencies Association Nepal (TAAN) had unveiled six different trekking trails this year with the option of short treks of 4 to 5 days in almost all the popular routes.

Given that longer packages become impossible to operate due to snow and adverse weather conditions, entrepreneurs have focused on making use of those shorter packages to attract locals as well as Asian tourists who prefer comparatively shorter route during the lean period.

Trekking agents said the new products have received good response from travellers in the very first year. So much so, they said they are expecting the business to go up by 20 percent in the period of December to February as bookings for short treks is strong.

Mohan Lamsal who operates Makalu Adventure said that they have received the significant booking compared to same period last year.

"The business was very nominal after November last year but the business is still vibrant and upcoming business till the month of February (which is considered lean period for the business) is up by 15 percent," he said they were hopeful the business was going to increase further. Lamsal said the trekkers preferred the trek in the areas like Ghorepani, Poon Hill, Dhampus during this period.

According to entrepreneurs, they were hopeful of good business as trekkers have started visiting the country in the lean period. Lamsal attributed this to increasing interest among Chinese, Japanese and even Malaysian trekkers. "The booking for short trek is very good for January and February which is a good sign," he added.

Mahendra Singh Thapa, president of Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) said business during the peak season was normal compared to previous year. "The arrivals in the month of October was down but in case of trekking business, we observed a meager growth," he said, adding that bookings for upcoming months are also positive.

The attraction continues to be Annapurna Trek and the Everest Region. The airlines that used to operate 5-6 flights to Lukla are operating 15 flights on an average as the number of trekkers has not declined despite the freezing temperature.

According to TAAN, the new trails, including recently launched Guerilla Trek was also receiving enormous enquiries. "With new trails we have been able to restore the concept of camping trek which was almost lost because of increasing number of lodges in most of the trails," Lamsal said.

TAAN issued more than 27,000 TIMS cards in October -- a rise of less than 10 percent compared to October 2011. Although the TAAN is yet to finalize the data of November,officials said the growth was negligible.

source: republica,25 Dec 2012