Tourism supported 504k jobs in Nepal in 2013

Nepal’s travel and tourism sector directly supported 504,000 jobs in 2013. The figure represents 3.2 percent of the total employment in the country, and this share is expected to rise by 6.4 percent in 2014, according to the Travel and Tourism Economic Impact 2013 report published by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) on Wednesday.

Tourism supported jobs include employment by hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation services and also the activities of the restaurant and leisure industries directly supported by tourists.

In terms of absolute contribution in job creation by the travel and tourism sector, Nepal is ranked 30th among 184 countries. Among South Asian countries, India and Bangladesh ranked 2nd and 12th respectively. 

The London-based council said in its annual report that Nepal received 796,000 visitors in 2013 and generated US$ 0.42 billion (Rs 39.1 billion) in revenue, which is 21.1 percent of total exports. The country is expected to attract 861,000 international tourist arrivals in 2014, and the income from tourists is expected to rise by 11.9 percent in the same year.

On the investment front, Nepal is expected to have attracted capital investment of Rs 14.6 billion in 2013, and investment in the sector is expected to grow by 2.7 percent this year. Investment in the travel and tourism sector in 2012 amounted to Rs 12.5 billion, or 4.1 percent of the total investment.

Nepal is far behind in capital investment in the travel and tourism sector compared to other countries. The country is ranked 126th in terms of attracting investment in tourism. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are ranked 4th, 71st and 83rd respectively in the South Asian region on this score. The report shows that in 2013, the total contribution of travel and tourism to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was US$ 1.6 billion (Rs 145.3 billion), which is 8.2 percent of the total GDP. The direct contribution of tourism to GDP was US$ 0.7 billion (Rs 68.8 billion) or 3.9 percent of the total GDP. Leisure travel spending (inbound and domestic) generated 86.2 percent of direct tourism GDP (Rs 95 billion) last year, compared with 13.8 percent (Rs 15.3 billion) for business travel spending.

Business travel spending is expected to grow by 15.7 percent this year to Rs 17.6 billion while leisure travel spending is expected to grow by 8.9 percent to Rs 103.5 billion this year, according to the report. Domestic travel spending generated 64.5 percent of direct travel and tourism GDP in 2013 compared with 35.5 percent for foreign visitor spending or international tourism receipts. Domestic travel spending is expected to grow by 8.7 percent in 2014 to Rs 77.3 billion.

source:the kathmandu post,23 march 2014