Adventure tourism suffers cancellations due to bandhs

Frequent bandhs has resulted in an unexpected cancellation of bookings for adventure tourism.

The adventure tourism industry in the country has recently witnessed about 40 per cent booking cancellations. “Adventure tourism during the spring of 2012 has till date observed a total cancellation of 35–40 per cent,” said president of Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal Mahendra Singh Thapa.

According to travel, trekking and tour operators, of the total number of tourist arrivals in Nepal, 30 per cent come for adventure tourism. “About 30 per cent of tourists who come to Nepal do not want to stay in Kathmandu valley and their holiday packages are mostly related to adventure,” said Thapa.

He also added that this season, the travel, trekking and tour companies are bearing heavy losses as the number of cancellations has been increasing each day. However, we are hopeful that the loss will be recovered once the new constitution is promulgated.

“If not, the country will have to face huge losses which will require years to recover,” he said, adding that currently they are trying to convince tourists who arrive in Kathmandu to opt for alternative packages.

“We are trying to convince them to take an alternative package around Kathmandu valley and we are also refunding the package cost,” said Thapa.

With an aim to attract more tourists and add fresh trekking routes to the adventure tourism sector of the country, the government had in 2011 unveiled new trekking routes –– Paachpokhari Kunda Trekking Trail in Sindhupalchowk, Nagi Narchang Trekking Trail in Myagdi, and Dhorpatan Trekking Trail in Baglung.

Meanwhile, it has also focused on integrating Rara, Sinja, Pupal, Dhorpatan, Sisne and Jaljala of the mid–western region as a trekking circuit. Similarly, it is also concerned for the development of trekking trails in the Annapurna and Manaslu regions.

Nepal is one of the best destinations in the world for adventure tourism and offers an abundance of outdoor activities such as trekking, paragliding, rafting, jungle safari, mountain biking, bungee jumping, mountain flight, village tourism, fishing, honey hunting, canyoning, peak climbing, etc.

It is also one of the best destinations for enjoying nature’s beauty through trekking. Trekking in Nepal is an all-season activity. However, the most popular season is spring (February-May) and autumn (September-November). Even during the monsoons (June-August), tourists arrive to trek in the rain-shadow areas north of the Himalayas like Mustang, Upper Manang and Dolpo.

source: The Himalayan Times,17 May 2012