Case Study about Pokhara 2022

Running head: POKHARA
Assessment 3: A Case study
[Pokhara]
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Executive summary
Tourism development activity helps to boost the economy in numerous ways. However, on the
other hand, it brings many problems related to the socio-cultural and environmental factors of a
tourism destination. This study revolves around a similar topic as it analyses the tourism
opportunities and challenges to Pokhara. The study identifies that Pokhara has emerged as an
attractive tourism destination for many reasons. Pokhara due to its scenic beauty and offering
opportunities to trekkers and adventure seekers has emerged one of the world’s most touring
destinations. However, there are some issues faced by the tourism sector, which needs serious
attention. Ineffective transport facilities, the security of tourists, ineffective cultural synergy,
rooms’ occupancy rate in hotels and ineffective collaboration between the stakeholders are some
of the issues. The study provides some ways out of these issues to help Pokhara become a
developing tourism destination.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
2. Historical overview of tourism development..............................................................................3
3. International tourism visitation....................................................................................................4
4. Destination attractiveness............................................................................................................6
5. Host community impacts of tourism............................................................................................7
6. Destination development issue analysis......................................................................................9
7. Tourism policy issue analysis....................................................................................................10
8. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

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1. Introduction
The study analyses the various tourism issues that were being identified to have an
existence in Pokhara. These issues are:
 Security issues to the host community in Nepal (Chhetri 2018)
 A cultural mismatch between the host community and international tourist;
 Lack of effective coordination between the stakeholders of the tourism sector;
 The hotel industry is on a building spree;
 Transportation issues
The study tries to identify whether these issues are resolvable. The significance of this study
is in a fact that it validates these issues using relevant scholarly articles. The readers can expect
to see a discussion showing if there is any difference between facts identified in the previous
study and those scholarly articles to be chosen for this study.
2. Historical overview of tourism development
In the early days around 1950 and 1960, Pokhara was explored to tourists as a transit
point where mountaineers can enjoy trekking. The year 1962 was the time when Pokhara was
explored by a few thousand tourists as a tourism destination. A French National Maurice Herzog
and a team of mountaineers were the first to ascend Mt. Annapurna I (8091 m) on the 3rd of June
of 1950. The first-ever commercial trekking was started by British Colonel Jimmy Roberts in an
association with the global pioneer package tourism inventor. Thomas Cook from the United
Kingdom was the other person to explore the tourism potentials of Pokhara in 1966. During the
1960s and 1970s, Pokhara remained one of the favorite destinations for Western Hippies. These

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hippies are also known as explorers, adventure-seekers and risk-takers who explored the
untouched Annapurna region. The contribution of these people is always remembered for a fact
they popularized these places through photography. However, the professional development of
tourism in Pokhara first took place at the end of 1970 (Adhikari, 2019, p. 7).
Many other pieces of evidence show the historical development of tourism in Pokhara
and how it grew to popularity globally. The sketch for the development of Pokhara was first
drawn in 1974. Following on the trend, the Prithvi highway was constructed in 1976 to connect
Pokhara with Kathmandu. The year 1980 marked the popularity of Pokhara as the gateway for
trekkers. Some of the places to have received recognition were round Annapurna, Annapurna
Sanctuary trek, Circuit trek, Mardi Himal trek, Ghandruk-Ghorepani, Dhaulagiri round, Jomsom-
Muktinath, Nar-Phoo and Dolpa treks. The popularity was boosted further by opening the
restricted area of upper Mustang trek for the trekkers. The year 1986 marked the beginning of the
Annapurna Conservation Area Project in the north of Pokhara. Mega events took place in 2007
to promote Pokhara at a much larger platform. Today, Pokhara is not just a place for
international tourists but to participate in its several annually celebrated events. These are Rice
Planting Festival, New Year Festival, Winter Trekking Camp, Street Festival, International
Paragliding Championship, Triathlon Championship and others (Adhikari, 2019, p. 7).
3. International tourism visitation
The year 2018 proved a very profitable year for tourism in Pokhara and its hotel industry.
Nearly 30 new hotels could see tourists flocking to these hotels. It has already geared up for
hosting Nepal's third international airport by 2020. However, it still needs to work to increase the

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length of stay and the average spending of the visitors. The length of stay is considerably poor
close to just two days (Khand & Maharjan 2016, p. 36). The length of stay and average spending
of tourists is improvable by following a few strategies. One of these is promoting Pokhara as a
destination for conferences, meetings, incentives and exhibitions. Indeed, this is a type of
tourism that can attract large groups of people who usually plan events. There is an opportunity
as well in making Pokhara a destination offering world-class leisure tourism. The packages can
also be improved to lengthen the stays.
Annapurna Conservation Area is one of the destinations to have received increasing
participation from international visitors. According to a report from National Trust for Nature
Conservation in 2018, the footfalls to Annapurna Conservation have constantly increased. The
below-attached statistics convey the same:
Figure 1: Annapurna Conservation Area International Visitor Arrivals 2001 to 2017
(Source: EPI Pokhara Sunauli Tourism Report 2018, p. 14)
The above statistics indicate that the international tourist footfalls for Annapurna
Conservation Area have always been good and more so in recent years.

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4. Destination attractiveness
The destination attractiveness can be understood by knowing what makes people like a
place. The “Satisfaction Theory” suggests a possible reason for the fact. The theory says that
people have an innate disposition to things that appeal to their personality (Philip Kotler
Summary 2018). Hence, Pokhara is appealing to a few groups of tourists. Those who love
mountain biking, trekking, paragliding, coffee plantations and others, Pokhara are one of the best
options to these people.
The “Attraction Theory” in the context of the tourism sector means people like places
that are rewarding to them (Darek Kleczek 2008). Pokhara may be less rewarding for people who
prefer popular international destinations like Paris, Switzerland, etc. over any other destinations.
Each tourist has its reasons to visit a place and Pokhara may not necessarily satisfy their entire
reasons for selecting a tourism destination.
The “Motivation Theory” such as “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” says that when one
level of the hierarchy is met people tend to look for the next level. They want satisfaction for that
level as well (Lee & Hanna 2015, p. 129). This goes more or less similar for the tourists also. For
example, those who visit Pokhara they may have reasons to do so. They may be doing it for their
fondness for trekking and mountain biking. However, there is sufficient evidence on the fact that
the length of stay of tourists in Pokhara is not so healthy. Indeed, there is an urgent need to
enlarge the stay of tourists.
According to the Leiper’s Model of the Tourism System, five themes on a broader aspect
make a destination attractive to tourists. These are changing motivation and behavior of the
markets, changing patterns of tourism, tourism development programs, sustainable tourism

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development, and socio-cultural and economic impacts of tourism. The historical development of
tourism in Pokhara suggests that the interest of tourists for the place evolved after they could
trace the place is full of joy and excitement for adventure lovers (Musa, Mohezar Ali &
Moghavvemi, 2016, p. 5). The example indicates a change in attitude due to the changing market
behavior.
5. Host community impacts of tourism
The host community in a tourism destination has the impacts of tourism activity in the
region. In a likewise manner, the community living in Pokhara also has the impacts of tourism
activity in the city. The impacts can be broadly divided into three distinct types. These are:
1. Economic impact
The tourism activity has produced various positive impacts on the local community. Tourism
industry is a vital economic sector for Pokhara. The sector is therefore the major source of
income for its residents. In fact, the tourism sector and other production sectors contribute hugely
to the total economy. The contribution is close to 58% of the total economy (Khand & Maharjan
2016, p. 19). It is due to this home to thousands of jobs to people. It provided business
opportunities to people in various forms like art galleries, souvenir shops, fast food stalls and
others. Those who offer bus and cab services could see a boost to their business. New hotels
came to existence creating further job opportunities. Local handicrafts found a growing demand
for their products. There are negative impacts as well. The tourism development activity elevated
the price for general commodities. Rents and ownership prices soared due to tourism.

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Competition between established hotels and restaurants has made lives tougher for either of the
parties.
2. Socio-Cultural impact
The visiting of tourists to favorite destinations has encouraged the tourism stakeholders for
undertaking development works. This helps to preserve the importance of these places. With the
growing tourism, the cultural mismatch between the locals and tourists could be identified. It
created the necessity to train people on new skills. The tourism stakeholders in Pokhara grew in
their awareness of skill development programs. There are few negative socio-cultural impacts of
tourism in Pokhara. The tourism activity is mostly to attract tourists, not for the locals. Tourism
is promoting a foreign culture, which is increasing criminal activities in the city (Khand &
Maharjan 2016, p. 25). Due to growing external pressure such as increasing the cost of living a
few locals are migrating to other places. Public areas are usually overcrowded during tourism
seasons. There are high chances of the occurrence of socially undesirable activities.
3. Environmental impact
The growing tourism development works to attract more international tourists have also attracted
the stakeholders towards protecting the natural heritage of Pokhara. Hence, the protection works
for birds, animals and forests are under progress. The parks created as part of the tourism
development activity became habitat to the small animals and birds. The protection of heritage
buildings is also under progress. Also, there is increased protection for wildlife and deforestation
(Khand & Maharjan 2016, p. 28). Tourism development activity has produced some negative
impacts. Increasing air pollution, increasing traffic, mixing of wastages in lakes, decreasing
aquatic animals and conversion of agriculture field into parks are few of these.

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6. Destination development issue analysis
On a broader aspect, the tourism development activity faces few barriers. These barriers
mentioned as below should be overcome to flourish the growth of the industry:
 The occupancy rate in hotels
The occupancy rate in hotels in 2019 has been appreciating for Pokhara. However, the
occupancy rate is a major issue. It can become problematic for Pokhara as well considering it
enjoys the average length of stay of the tourists. Studies suggest a few solutions fight this barrier.
There is potential opportunity in collaborating with local business partners. Hotels can be
benefitted from collaborating with the travel agents. Some of the hotels may already be doing a
similar practice and still struggling to make it count. To establish an effective business
relationship with local travel agents it is important to focus on a few activities. Exciting hotel
packages accompanied by the relevant and logical promotion of the packages can do the needful.
When offers are exciting and relevant to the needs there are high chances for the offers to get
sold out. With a wide array of online travel portals that are nowadays accessible to travelers, they
possess the better capability to analyze the offers. Hence, the new and existing hotels in Pokhara
should focus on the offers along with effective promotions of the offers through the various
online travel portals.
 Transport facility
Transport facility does significantly influence local tourism. The tourists want many of their
transport-related factors to be met. These factors are time limit, status, distance, security,
competition, benefit, geographical position and price. If these factors are not met by the local

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transport authority, the local tourism stakeholders and other stakeholders these factors can lead to
negative impacts of tourism. Few initiatives can improve the local transport system in a country.
The transportation modes should be made more appealing to tourists. The transportation cost
should be kept at a competitive level. The distance from the station should be kept less. Trained
personnel should be deployed in the transport sector. There should be adequate support of the
local government on transport development activity. However, all these could happen only if
there is an effective collaboration between the stakeholders. The stakeholders of both the tourism
and travel sector should work together to avoid any commitment failure. This has already
happened to Pokhara as there was disagreement on discounts between the airline companies and
the ministry of local tourism. The tourism ministry had declared offering flat discounts on tickets
without confirming for the same to the airline companies. The incident had significantly
impacted the collaborative relationship between the airline companies and the ministry of
tourism.
7. Tourism policy issue analysis
 Effective coordination between stakeholders of tourism and travel sectors
Ineffective collaboration between tour operators, hotels and restaurant owners, and managers is a
major barrier to policy implementation (Pasape & Mujwiga 2017, p. 23). In some cases, one or
few of these stakeholders may not be aware of the Framework Guidance and Legislation. While
in many other cases a policy implementation may be affected by their ineffective collaboration.
If that is the case they may end up losing on the opportunities. Hence, a decision should be made
public only if there is an agreement for the same from the stakeholders. One of the incidents

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indicating a failure of collaboration between the tourism ministry and the airline companies was
when there was disagreement between the stakeholders on flat discounts on the tickets.
According to airline companies, the tourism ministry should have communicated once seeking
the provision for any such offers.
 The cultural impact of tourism
The growing tourism activity creates barriers to the synergy between the residents and the
tourists. Pokhara has been facing a similar issue. There should be strategies to ensure a synergy
between residents and the touring people (García-Hernández, de la Calle-Vaquero & Yubero,
2017, p. 15). There should be a clear vision for cultural synergy. It should be communicated to
the residents as well as to the tourists. The tourists can be made aware of these changes by
promoting cultural diversity at airports and other modes of entry to the city. This can be in the
form of an advertisement or a promotional campaign. Although this might not change the entire
scenario still this can be laid the foundation for synergy between diverse cultures. On top of all,
the capability to implement policy should also grow.
 The security impact of tourism
The further growth of tourism in Pokhara will lot depend on its ability to remain a safe and
secure place for visitors. The security can be at risk from terrorism and other malignant activities
(Neacşu, Neguţ & Vlăsceanu, 2018, p. 871). Hence, there is a need for a robust security
framework to be implemented in Pokhara. New policies will be needed to offer a secure and safe
tourism experience to tourists. There have been policy implementation issues faced by the
tourism sector in Pokhara in the recent past. To offer tourists a more secure and safe environment

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there is a need for strategic collaboration between the stakeholders and cooperation from the
local government in Pokhara.
8. Conclusion
Therefore, the challenges currently faced by tourism in Pokhara can be overcome by
adopting a few policies about security, cultural synergy, transport facility, hotel developments
and others. However, policies alone will not help as understood from the findings of the study.
Indeed, a strategic collaboration between the stakeholders of the tourism in Pokhara and other
related sectors will be utterly required for implementing such policies.

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References
Adhikari, S 2019, ‘Prospects of tourism in Nepal: A study of Pokhara city’, p. 7.
Chhetri, RK 2018, ‘Tourism and Security in Nepal’, Journal of Tourism & Adventure, vol. 1, no.
1, pp. 32-47.
Darek Kleczek 2008, Attraction Theory and the Online Community, viewed 4 October 2019,
<https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/attraction-theory-and-online-community>.
EPI Pokhara Sunauli Tourism Report 2018, Scoping Study on Tourism Opportunities in Pokhara
to Sunauli Economic Corridor Nepal, viewed 4 October 2019,
<http://epi.org.np/sites/default/files/file_resources/EPI%20Pokhara%20Sunauli%20Tourism
%20Report%20Apr%2018.pdf>.
García-Hernández, M, de la Calle-Vaquero, M & Yubero, C 2017, 'Cultural heritage and urban
tourism: Historic city centres under pressure’, Sustainability, vol. 9, no. 8, p. 15. [https://doi:
10.3390/su9081346]
Khand, J & Maharjan, UD 2016, ‘UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT IN TOURISM: A Case study of Pokhara’, Nepal, pp. 19-27.
Khand, J & Maharjan, UD 2016, ‘UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT IN TOURISM: A Case study of Pokhara’, Nepal, p. 36.
Lee, JM & Hanna, SD 2015, ‘Savings goals and saving behavior from a perspective of Maslow's
hierarchy of needs’, Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, vol. 26, no. 2, p. 129.

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Musa, G, Mohezar Ali, S & Moghavvemi, S 2016, ‘Understanding Islamic (Halal) Tourism
Through Leiper’s Tourism System’, Sedigheh, Understanding Islamic (Halal) Tourism Through
Leiper’s Tourism System, p. 5, (July 21, 2016).
Neacşu, MC, Neguţ, S & Vlăsceanu, G 2018, ‘The impact of geopolitical risks on tourism’,
Amfiteatru Economic, vol. 20, no. 12, pp. 870-884. [https://doi: 10.24818/EA/2018/S12/870]
Pasape, L & Mujwiga, S 2017, ‘Towards success of ecotourism networks in Tanzania: A case of
Tanzania association of tour operators’, p. 23. [https://doi: 10.5897/JHMT2016.0207]
Philip Kotler Summary 2018, Building Customer Satisfaction (Philip Kotler Summary), viewed
4 October 2019, <https://marketinglessons.in/building-customer-satisfaction-philip-kotler-
summary/>.