PCD101FC Tourism in Nepal: Challenges, Trends, & Growth Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive study of Nepal as a tourist destination, addressing the challenges and opportunities it faces. It examines the history of tourism in Nepal, the impact of the 2015 earthquake, and emerging trends in consumer travel patterns. The report also explores the influence of cultural diversity on tourism and discusses strategies to promote cultural tolerance and understanding. Furthermore, it identifies the existing target market for Nepal and proposes three marketing strategies to drive demand, increase the recognition of the value of tourism, and utilize events to grow visitation. The analysis includes actions to support the implementation of these strategies, aiming to renew tourism growth and enhance Nepal's image as a safe and attractive destination.

Running Head: TOURIST DESTINATION 0
Tourism Destination Study
Diploma in Travel and Tourism: Study of Nepal
(Student Details:)
1/28/2019

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Contents
Tourist Destination Study..........................................................................................................2
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Overview of the destination.......................................................................................................2
Location..................................................................................................................................2
Attractions..............................................................................................................................3
History of tourism in Nepal and Kathmandu.........................................................................3
Changes in visitation numbers...............................................................................................4
Emerging trends in consumer travel patterns.............................................................................5
Population Growth in Nepal...................................................................................................5
Cultural Diversity...................................................................................................................6
Severe damage from earthquake in 2015...............................................................................6
Cultural issues clashing with visitors of the destination............................................................7
Strategies to promote cultural tolerance & understanding.........................................................7
Existing target market for the Nepal..........................................................................................8
Three marketing strategies to target the chosen consumer group..............................................8
Driving Demand.....................................................................................................................8
Increasing the Recognition of the Value of Tourism.............................................................9
Using Events to Grow Visitation...........................................................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11

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Tourist Destination Study
Introduction
Organisations working into successful tourist destinations management are
persistently adapting their regular operations those are response to the changes in the external
environment as well as tourists travel patterns. Recently, so many challenges arise with the
progress of the destinations by the phases of the tourist area life cycle (referred as TALC) and
hence tourist destination management associations should manage these challenges
proactively (Eichhorn & Buhalis, 2011).
In this way, this report is based on detailed study of the tourist destinations and
challenges as well as opportunities facing by those tourist destinations presently (Cooper &
Hall, 2009). The discussion will allow readers to investigate factors which are majorly
contributing to a decline in tourism within the region of Nepal. In this discussion we will
consider strategies for supporting renewed tourism growth in Nepal. This report will also
discover the role of cross-cultural communication in the effective development of Nepal’s
image as well as investigate marketing strategies which must be used by the destination
management organisations in order to alter Nepal’s image for increasing visitation numbers
there.
Overview of the destination
Nepal is a place bursting with colourful culture, wildlife encounters, and
entertainment events. Nepal is an inclusive safe tourist destination for travellers from all over
the world. Moreover, Nepalese are very helpful and friendly. Additionally, from
trekking spot to the mountains’ climbing or many other adventurous activities tourists can
positively choose Nepal for their upcoming country tour.
Location
To reach at Nepal from any international site, on can fly to international airport of
Nepal; Tribhuvan International Airport situated in the east of Kathmandu. Moreover, there
are some direct long-distance flights to Nepal which are from Europe, U.S. and Australia.
Nepal being the Federal Democratic Republic is a non-coastal country in the South Asia. The

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country is located majorly in the Himalayas along with some portions of the Indo-Gangetic
Plain. According to an estimated population of 26.4 million public, it is the 48th biggest
country from population viewpoint as well as 93rd greatest country by geographical area
(Bureau, 2009).
Attractions
There are many attractions in the country but they get affected in the earthquake of
2015 which caused major damage in Kathmandu and other places of the country. Yet, the
tourist destination is full of natural tourist sites for their international and national tourists.
Major attractions of Nepal country are as follows:
 Kathmandu
 Bhaktapur
 Boudhanath Stupa (Bodhnath)
 Pokhara
 Trekking: Annapurna Region
 Chitwan National Park
 Trekking: Langtang Region
 Swayambhunath: Monkey Temple
 Mount Everest trek and base camp
 Pashupatinath Temple
 Sagarmatha National Park
 Durbar Square, Kathmandu
 Phewa Lake, Pokhara
 Peace Temple, Pokhara
 International Mountain Museum
History of tourism in Nepal and Kathmandu
History of tourism in Nepal and Kathmandu starts from the decades before the
unification of Nepal, as Tibetan, Chinese and Indians used to visit Nepal frequently for their
commercial and religious motives. Later on, during 1950-1998 Nepal became hot spot for
adventure seekers, holiday makers and cultural tourists. Thus, in the year 1998 Nepal
celebrated “Visit Nepal 98” for strengthening Nepal country tourism. Furthermore, the period
of 1999-2005 was the dark period for the Nepal tourism as during these years country faced
some drastic events and challenges. As a result, tourism in Nepal almost shut down. For

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peace, an agreement was signed in 2006 for giving the message to the world that Nepal is
now safe for international tourists. Then tourism started picking up and finally in the year
2011, Nepal celebrated the tourism year. Subsequently, the country has faced a severe
earthquake in the year 2015 which has caused damage to all major tourist destinations.
Therefore, post-earthquake tourist’s visitation number has decreased from a big number.
Changes in visitation numbers
The below shown statistics is showing the number of international tourist arrivals by
year, during 2015–2018:

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Source: (WorldoMeters, 2019)
Emerging trends in consumer travel patterns
Population Growth in Nepal
Population in Nepal is growing and hence Nepal is struggling with their own
population pressures and economic growth. The country’s 29 million public manage their
living through farming, have recently run out of land for cultivation, post-earthquake and
population growth. Nepal’s poverty is persisting; as internal conflicts are draining because of
scarce resources. Moreover, as continuous population growth exceeding growth in
agricultural production during the last three decades, poverty has become an issue for the
country survival (Bureau, 2009).
Source: (WorldoMeters, 2019)

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Source: (WorldoMeters, 2019)
Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity is also affecting intensity and effectiveness of tourism in Nepal as
the sources of tourists for Nepal include majorly following countries:
 Australia
 India
 China
 U.S.
 U.K.
 Sri Lanka
 Thailand
 South Korea
 Japan
 France
 Malaysia
 Canada
 Germany etc.

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As we can see from the above provided list of countries from where tourists arrive in
Nepal, hence it is a culturally rich country. Moreover, Nepalese are multi-cultural, multi-
linguistic, multi-racial and multi-ethnic. Besides, there are so many different languages and
cultures in Nepal region, which has built a unique and rich national culture. National identity
of Nepal is known for this ethnic and cultural diversity. In this way, there are so many other
trends like generation, cultural diversity and employability which are changing tourism in
Nepal considerably (Burns, Palmer, & Lester, 2010).
Severe damage from earthquake in 2015
Although Nepal and Kathmandu and own long attracted adventurous travellers, yet
post the country’s April 2015 earthquake, that has been killed 8,000 as well as wrought about
$10 billion in damages, destroyed entire Nepal’s tourism industry (Hudson, 2012). In this
context, Kathmandu’s Durbar Square, which is a UNESCO-listed touristic place was partially
destroyed, likewise the Kathmandu’s other iconic structure: the 19th-century Dharahara
tower. In this way, the above reason is the main cause behind the tourists declining trend in
Nepal. People from the whole world think like Nepal is no longer a safe and pleasing place
for travel and tourism.
Cultural issues clashing with visitors of the destination
There are following cultural diversity and issues that could potentially lead to clashes
with visitors in the Nepal being a multi-cultural nation:
 Symbols, Language and Humour of the residential natives of the place
 Diversity of Arts
 Religious diversity
 Food and Apparel diversity
 Attitudes, beliefs and stereotypes
In this way, above mentioned all issues as well as cultural factors influence the tourist
experience of the Nepal and hence effective strategies must be used by Nepal’s tourism
managers to manage barriers for achieving successful cross-cultural communication.

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Strategies to promote cultural tolerance & understanding
There are helpful strategies which can promote cultural tolerance as well as
understanding all over the region of Nepal, as follows:
 Raising some culture based key questions and finding their answers will definitely
help while promoting cultural tolerance. Some of those questions include:
 What is Culture
 What is the significance of culture
 What is the importance of understanding your culture
 What are the benefits of living in a cultural diverse community (Murphy,
Pritchard, & Smith, 2008).
 Welcoming everyone belonging to diverse culture
 Treating each and everyone the same way in the community
 Helping all in getting their rights for living happily in the community (KIm & Jang,
2019).
Existing target market for the Nepal
The natural legacies as well as cultural heritage of Nepal offer a great foundation for
international tourism market segments’ development. In this way, according to the data sets
available through the Nepal Tourism Board as well as Travel Agencies in Kathmandu,
existing target market for the country of Nepal is as shown in the below figure:

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Source:
Three marketing strategies to target the chosen consumer group
There are many factors which contribute to the building of Nepal’s image and hence
they work as important tools which can be utilised by the destination managers in order to
influence image formation of the Nepal globally. Therefore, below listed marketing strategies
are which are to be used by Nepal’s tourism management organisations to competitively
market Nepal’s tourist attractions to a wide range of diverse consumer groups:
Driving Demand
By managing and implementing effective interstate, international and intrastate
marketing communications driving demand strategy can be implemented. Moreover,
leveraging digital assets in order to directly or indirectly impact identified target markets of
Nepal this strategy will definitely work. Additionally, driving demand will leverage old-style
distribution channels to impact target markets of Nepal all over the world (Nickson, 2013).
In this context, actions in support to implement the above strategies are as follows:

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 Delivering interstate, international marketing and strengthening public relations
through activities in order to drive perception, awareness, consideration and
conversion of Nepal’s target markets in order to increase expenditure and stay of the
tourists (Bureau, 2009).
 Encouraging Nepalese for rediscovering their own state through spreading awareness
of product as well as increasing state conversion and pride.
 Leveraging effective partnership with the Nepal Tourism.
 Encouraging Nepal’s target market for generating positive social media contents to
enhance the visitors experience by digital platform.
 Maintaining and developing marketing partnerships with global tourism and travel
distribution partners in order to add grow visitation as well as expenditure (Qiu,
Masiero, & Li, 2018).
Increasing the Recognition of the Value of Tourism
In order to increase the recognition of the value of tourism of Nepal, providing
leadership for senior level decision-makers within business, government and the community
will be a great marketing strategy. Besides, driving advocacy for the visitors’ economy as
well as increasing state pride is also come under this marketing strategy (Upreti, Sharma,
Pyakutyal, & Ghimire, 2010).
In this way, actions in support to implement the above strategies are as follows:
 Building on the recent strong research programs as well as making relevant evidence
base tools to a wide range of stakeholders of Nepal’s tourism can be a recommended
action.
 Using story-telling for promoting the good positive stories related to the Nepal
visitors’ economy as well as promoting Kathmandu state pride.
Using Events to Grow Visitation
Third marketing strategy for promoting Nepal’s tourism is that destination managers
should manage as well as grow main leisure events (Service Skills Australia, 2011). Besides,
focusing on sponsorships and supporting the growing of existing events as well as their
outcomes for Nepal region will be a great strategy. Additionally, securing and compelling
new tourism related events for Nepal is a part of this strategy (Upreti, Sharma, Pyakutyal, &
Ghimire, 2010). Growing the ability of the Nepal leisure events industry will help in

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motivating tourists to visit Kathmandu and other regions of Nepal. In this way, driving
awareness, perceptions, consideration as well as conversion for tourists’ visitation within
Nepal through leisure events is a marketing strategy to grow visitation in Nepal which will
further increase expenditure from corporate delegate visitation (Eichhorn & Buhalis, 2011).
Thus, actions in support to implement the above strategies are as follows:
 Driving growth in the visitors’ economy by using the effective management of
touristic events for targeted audiences in order to drive growth in those visitors’
economy will work for the implementation of this strategy.
 Leveraging cross-promotion of touristic events along with complementary audiences
is an action to be taken by the destination managers of the Nepal.
 Developing and sponsoring regional and city based events, in aggregation with
partners, will contribute to visitor expenditure growth (Sharpley & Telfer, 2015).
 Increasing awareness as well as consideration of Nepal being a festivals and events
destination, by implying public relations, collaborative marketing and partnerships in
order to grow visitors’ expenditure is an action required for this marketing strategy
(Nepal, Indra Al Irsyad, & Nepal, 2019).
Conclusion
In conclusion, with the help of the secondary research done over the region of Nepal,
identification of the factors which contribute to the formation of Nepal’s image has been done
successfully. Tools for doing the above efficiently were include location, attractions, history
of tourism in the region, changes in visitation numbers of the Nepal. Besides, this report has
explored three emerging trends in tourists travel patterns which may have contributed to the
present image of the Nepal region. Moreover, we have discussed cultural issues which could
potentially lead to clashes with visitors in the Nepal and hence proposed well-structured
strategies which could be implemented by the Nepal in order to promote cultural tolerance
and understanding. Additionally, the discussion is identified an existing target market for the
destination as well as outlined the unique characteristics of those tourists. Finally, we have
proposed three marketing strategies in order to target the selected consumer groups for
getting tourism business from them. Finally, this report is demonstrating many ways to
improve the Nepal’s overall image as well as future tourism growth which can be used by the
nation managers to influence Nepal’s image formation.