Nepal cheapest destination in South Asia

Nepal is one of the cheapest traditional holiday destinations in South Asia, said MyTravelCost.com basing its assessment on World Bank data.

The website has compared travel costs across South Asia based on six major factors of tourist spending — hotels and restaurants, groceries, alcohol, clothes, entertainment and transport.

According to MyTravelCost.com, hotels and restaurants in Nepal are 3 percent more expensive than in India. However, in comparison to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives and Pakistan, prices in Nepal are lower.

Hotels and restaurants in the Maldives are 62 percent more expensive than in Nepal.

Travel trade entrepreneurs said that the “Freak Street and hippie” culture during the 1970s and 1980s had a profound influence on Nepal’s travel trade. “It has made the country as the world’s cheapest place to visit, and this hangover still persists in Nepal,” said Yogendra Sakya, a travel trade entrepreneur. “The country’s branding has remained the same.”

Despite high inflation, the tariff of five-star hotels is around US$ 70-80. “This indicates that Nepal can be considered to be the cheapest destination,” said Shakya. It was only last year that hoteliers had hiked the room rates marginally.

According to travel trade entrepreneurs, tourists coming to Nepal spend 60 percent of their total budget on their air ticket and the rest in Nepal.  “In fact, Nepal is very cheap to stay, eat and entertain compared to other South Asian countries, but transport, particularly air transport, is very high among the nations due to poor performance of the national flag carrier,” added Shakya.

As foreign travellers have no choice of direct air connectivity, air travel costs become higher while coming to Nepal. Similarly, surface travelling is also expensive in Nepal due to a well organized syndicate system by transport operators and high gasoline prices. The website has showed that transport costs in Nepal are higher than in all the South Asian countries except the Maldives.

Groceries cost less in Nepal than in all the South Asian countries except India. In terms of entertainment, the website shows that Nepal has the lowest prices in South Asia.

source: The Kathmandu Post,16 June 2012