Pokhara Tourism Report: Contemporary Issues and Development

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes Pokhara's tourism.

Assessment 3
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Tourist Market Potential..................................................................................................................4
Transport Development...................................................................................................................5
Accommodation Development........................................................................................................6
Crisis and risk management.............................................................................................................7
Social Media Influence....................................................................................................................8
Visitor experience development......................................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
Travel and tourism are one of the most important industries of any country as it contributes to the
economic development of a country. There are several numbers of contemporary tourism as well
as the hotel issues which are relevant to any visiting destinations. The nominated destination in
order to prepare the report is Pokhara, Nepal. Pokhara is a city of Nepal which is metropolitan
and it is also the second largest city of Nepal in terms of the Population. Pokhara is also
considered as the tourism capital of Nepal as it is one of the most beautiful destinations for the
tourists to visit. Pokhara is considered as a home to the large numbers of the elite Gurkha
Soldiers. Pokhara is the base for the trekkers which undertake the Annapurna Circuit. There are
several numbers of temples as well as valleys to visit hence it is one of the best places to visit in
Nepal. Tourism has become one of the major sources of income for the local people living in
Nepal and there are approximately two hotels of a five-star rating and 305 other hotels. The
report will include several contemporary issues associated with the tourism of Pokhara, Nepal.
There will be made a discussion on the development of transport and its effect of the growth as
well as the development of Pokhara. Along with transportation development, the current trends
in accommodation development in this city will be discussed in the report. The potential risks
and crises will be explained along with the influences of social media on such a destination.
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Tourist Market Potential
Travel Agencies
One of the new and emerging tourist market segments for Pokhara is the travel agencies. It has
been identified that due to the several numbers of destinations in Pokhara, it has become one of
the most popular destinations for the visitors in order to explore. The travel agencies are being
increased in numbers along with the time in Pokhara due to the increased numbers of visitors
within Nepal. These travel agencies provide the packages to their customers on cheap and
discounted rates in order to attract them more towards these destinations. These travel agencies
have started to promote the tourism sites of Pokhara in order to attract new visitors and increase
their businesses. These travel agencies provide the pickup and drop facilities. Along with them
they also take care of the appropriate accommodation of the people visiting such places through
such travel agencies (McIntyre, 2018).
The travel agency market is a new market and emerging with the time to a great extent. The
business tourism segment is one of the most popular segment markets of Pokhara as the changes
are also made in the way of the travel agencies operate from time to time and from generation to
generation. It is very important for any destination to promote their historical and tourism
destinations so that several numbers of visitors can come there and also can give the business to
such a country. The travel agencies are being developed in such places in order to promote these
destinations and attract several numbers of people. These are the best emerging tourism market
for the city Pokhara in order to highlight the destinations of Pokhara to invite the people to visit
in such a city. There will also be a great business opportunity for such travel agencies in order to
earn profits as well as set- up their businesses.
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Transport Development
Influences of Contemporary transport development
Tourism is incomplete without the contribution made by transportation. It is considered as an
integral part of the travel and tourism industry. The transport is helping in connecting several
destinations or it can be said that it is helpful in connecting the whole world. One of the main
functions of the transportation system is to transit and carrying the passengers and goods
between the two or more destinations (Adhikari, 2017). The role of transportation is to bring ease
in the difficulty of the movement of goods and people along with the communication. The
contemporary transport developments have positive as well as negative both influences over the
development of Pokhara. It has a direct impact on the entire development speed of the
destination. Air and road transportation is being developed in Nepal to a great extent with the
time (Walter, et. al., 2018).
The development of the transportation system in Pokhara has given a growth to the development
of the city as a whole as by developing the wide highways, the city has become able to jump to
the further level of the transportation system which has to lead it to the trade markets, industrial
markets, tourism markets as well as the convenient internal markets. The contemporary transport
development has influenced the growth of the Pokhara Destination as it has led the city to the
anonymous growth of the traffic. There is a very low income of the people in the developing
countries and they do not have the ability to maintain private vehicles appropriately. Due to the
contemporary development of transportation, the numbers of accidents within the city have also
risen. Due to such reason, the growth and development of Pokhara are being slow down and it is
causing to the less attractive of such destination.
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Accommodation Development
Current trends in Accommodation development
There are several numbers of the trends that are having an impact on the growth of Pokhara
destination related to the accommodation. In the past times, there were not so many opportunities
or the places for the visitors to stay but with the time there has been seen the growth in numbers
of hotels of great ratings in Pokhara. One of the most important trends in the recent times
regarding the accommodation development is that the owners of the hotels are paying their
attention towards expanding sustainability efforts such as the energy and water conserving
facilities as the green products are provided by those owners. It is helping to maintain the
environmental sustainability of the Pokhara city along with the accommodation development.
This is one of the positive influences on the development of destination Pokhara.
The other trend is that the accommodation industry is completely paying their attention towards
the food provided by them to their guests or the people came to visit Pokhara and staying in
such hotels. The hotels are incorporating the food through new and different ways for guest
experiences. It is helping in the development of such city as well as the nation as the people are
liking this sweet gesture and coming to visit such place on the priority basis (Bhandari, 2018).
The fresh, as well as the organic ingredients, are being used by the hotels in order to serve a great
experience of food to their guests. It enhances the tourism in Pokhara and also helps in raising
the funds for the infrastructural and economic development of the city Pokhara.
There has also been seen the Tech explosion within the accommodation industry of Pokhara as a
recent trend and it is quite helpful in enhancing the visiting experience of the people visiting such
places. Overall, these trends in accommodation development are being helpful in the growth and
development of this industry (Anup, 2017).
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Crisis and risk management
Current Potential Crisis and Risks
There are several numbers of the crisis as well as risks associated with the destination Pokhara.
One of the most effective risks is the safety risk of the visitors came to visit in Pokhara. The
managers of tourism in the Pokhara are required to consider such risks as well as the potential
crisis in order to manage them effectively and minimize their impact on the visitors as well as the
whole city. One of the major crises found in Pokhara, Nepal is regarding the natural disasters
taking places from time to time (Chaulagain and Halme, 2017). The climate conditions within
Pokhara are mild in nature yet there have been observed and identified the problems of the flood
as well as the earthquakes. These disasters are causing to the safety risk for the people came to
visit there as well as the local citizens of that city. The major crises are being faced by the people
due to the disasters taking places in the city and there is a requirement for the destination
managers to pay attention to tense disaster management. The earthquakes are the unique
challenges for the tourism industry of Nepal and after such disaster; the people suffer from these
consequences and are impacted effectively. There is a requirement for such a destination to be
very optimistic regarding the future to tourism. Nepal is one of the 20 most disaster-affected and
prone countries (Nepal and Baral, 2016).
The other potential risk and crisis are regarding the increasing numbers of accidents due to the
development of contemporary transportation in Pokhara. This is leading to the health and safety
risk for the people living there. The destination managers are required to manage such problems
effectively and try to reduce them as well as their impact on the lives of people visiting or living
there. These risks are being the main reason behind the lower attraction of the visitors towards
such a destination (Ghimire, 2015).
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Social Media Influence
It has been seen that there has been a continuous increment in the use of social media channels
for the purpose of promoting any kind of businesses, products, services as well as destinations.
Social media is not only playing a positive role in marketing but also a negative image of any
particular products or services can also be portrayed. There is a great influence of the social
media channels on the Pokhara destination as it is increasing the awareness regarding the
characteristics of this destination among the people (Regmi, 2016).
There are several social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram as well as YouTube which
are being used by the companies or the people in order to promote any kind of thing. The videos
of beautiful places in Pokhara can be posted on Facebook or can be uploaded on YouTube.
These posts can increase the numbers of visitors to such a destination as more and more people
will get to know about such a destination through these social media channels. Social media has
become one of the most convenient ways of marketing within the tourism industry. The positive
reviews given by the visitors on the pages and videos of Pokhara destination can attract more
people towards such a destination which can be very helpful in widening the market for such a
destination.
There are not only positive influences but also the negative influences of such social media
channels on such a destination. The negative reviews made by the people can demoralize the
people to visit such a place which can reduce the numbers of visitors to such a particular
destination. Pokhara has also been influenced due to the social media marketing channels as
there has been made great publicity of such destination on social media channels in the previous
years. It has created a wide market of visitors for such a destination. Social media has proven to
be a great mode of promotion and marketing for any tourist destination.
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Visitor experience development
Potential of two contemporary visitor experience sectors for Pokhara
Lodging Facilities and accommodation sector
The facilities provided by the hotels and the lodges there are quite satisfying and at very
affordable prices. There can be developed a great experience of visiting such destination as the
gesture provided by the people there as well as the hotels there is quite impressive. The way they
treat people and the facilities they provide are economic and also enhance the sustainability of
the environment. There is a great potential in the services provided by the hospitality industry
there as it also helps in making the better experience of the visitors along with visiting the
famous destinations of such a place. The experiences of the people visiting Pokhara can be good
if they have stayed in the best hotels as they keep in their mind not only the satisfaction of the
people visiting there but also pay their attention towards the great ambiance for them as well as
sustainability of the environment. The accommodation or the hospitality industry is one of the
great contemporary visitors' experience sector for the destination like Pokhara.
Adventurous tourism sector/ Sports
It has been identified that the people visiting in Pokhara can earn their best experience while
participating in the adventurous activities as Pokhara is very famous for the trekking, rafting,
boating and bungee jumping. It gives a great experience to the visitors of Pokhara to view the
sunset and sunrise from the Sarangkot Hill and hiking the Annapurna Circuit. The experiences
that can be gained from such activities will last forever and the visitors will also like to
recommend other people to visit here and they themselves will also come to visit. These
activities provide a great business to the tourism industry of Pokhara which helps in its
infrastructural as well as economic development. Visitors can have the best experience while
participating in such activities (Karmacharya and Paudel, 2017).
These both sectors have the highest potential to increase the number of visitors for Pokhara and
enhancing their experiences.
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Conclusion
Tourism is a very grooming industry and there have been seen continuous development in the
destinations in order to attract more and more customers. Such destinations are also facing
several numbers of challenges as well as the contemporary issues related to tourism which are
required to be addressed by the managers of destinations. It has been concluded from this report
that due to the development in the contemporary transportation of any industry, both positive as
well as negative influences take place on the development and growth of that destination. The
research has been made on the destination Pokhara in Nepal which is called as the tourism
capital of Nepal. It has been concluded that due to the development of transportation several
problems in the growth of Pokhara has arisen. The increased traffic has caused accidents in that
territory which have become a reason for risk of safety for the people living there. There have
also been the positive influences of transportation development on the Pokhara as it has become
one of the leading destinations for the trade as well as tourism. Further, in the report, it has also
been found that due to the accommodation development, the development of the destination
Pokhara has also been influenced positively. The hospitality industry is being focused on the
sustainability of the environment and is also being tech savvy which is really a very good thing
for the development of the city Pokhara. These current trends are having a great and positive
influence on the growth of Pokhara. The discussion on the risks of earthquakes and other natural
disasters in Pokhara has also been made in order to bring them into consideration by the
managers of such destination. This report has concluded the positive and negative influence of
social media on the marketing of such a destination. It has been identified that, in the past years,
social media has proved to be a great medium of marketing for this destination.
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References
 Adhikari, J., 2017. Organic Farming and its Prospects in the Peri-urban Area of Pokhara,
Nepal. Journal of Forest and Livelihood, 15, p.2.
 Anup, K.C., 2017. Ecotourism in Nepal. The Gaze: Journal of Tourism and
Hospitality, 8, pp.1-19.
 Bhandari, D.R., 2018. Tourism Demand Analysis Using Probabilistic Travel Model: A
Study In Pokhara. Pravaha, 24(1), pp.58-63.
 Chaulagain, B. and Halme, J., 2017. Nepalese Tourism: One-month itinerary.
 Ghimire, H.L., 2015. Disaster Management and Post-quake Impact on Tourism in
Nepal. The Gaze: Journal of Tourism and Hospitality, 7, pp.37-57.
 Karmacharya, R. and Paudel, K., 2017. Awareness of Hypertension and its Self-
Management Practices among Hypertensive Patients in Pokhara, western Nepal.
Janapriya Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 6, pp.110-120.
 McIntyre, E., 2018. Accessible Tourism in Nepal: Deconstructing Space and the Meaning
of Risk.
 Nepal, S. and Baral, N., 2016. Cultural Perspective of Tourism in Nepal.
 Regmi, N., 2016. RURAL TOURISM IN NEPAL: DEVELOPMENT AND
SUSTAINABILITY: A Case Study of Parbat District, Nepal.
 Walter, P., Regmi, K.D. and Khanal, P.R., 2018. Host learning in community-based
ecotourism in Nepal: The case of Sirubari and Ghalegaun homestays. Tourism
management perspectives, 26, pp.49-58.
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