-Surya Thapaliya & Srijana Nepali
On the eventful day of December 31, 1997, the country witnessed an unprecedented departure to hitherto unknown territory of private public partnership challenging the dogmatic notion of redtapism. While realizing the wind of change, a dream institution was born. The overdue entropy of private sector had just transfused into a symbol of empowerment. Then, Nepal Tourism Board entered the scene. It was not an act of desperation rather a sincere contemplation to honor the knock-at-the-door in the wake of growing demand for market liberalization and open economic policy. On the very day, Microsoft acquired Hotmail in a record breaking deal of 400 million$ across the Atlantic. The story tells how the world was contrasting at two half spheres.
On a serious note, the enactment of NTB in 2054 BS was not an easy ride. Long before, in 1972, the Master Plan funded by the German Cooperation presented and echoed indispensable public private partnership in Nepal’s tourism. Coinciding with the fourth five-year plan, the 1972 master plan advocated for the need of comprehensive legal and institutional arrangements for tourism. While the tourism sector finds its taker under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, it was only in 1978 when the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation took a flight with the wings of tourism and Civil Aviation. It was heartening to turn over the pages of the master plan realizing how two major private associations- NATTA and HAN took the center stage in the plan in the context of statistical imperatives.
1950s- decade of theatricals up in the thin air
The story of Nepal’s tourism in the decade of 1950 was all about the expeditions. More of a battle of the giants- British and French. French took over the Annapurna while British stamped their authority on Everest. It was nothing sort of an Oscaresque drawing cinematic brilliance. After the drubbing and drowning of Second World War, both the colonial powerhouse looked for a rise from the ashes. They choose the might and the mystery of eight thousanders of Nepal. The battle turned and moved to Nepal from the Alps. 1950 June 3 was nothing short of a blockbuster. 1953 May 29 proved to be a colossal. A feat compared nothing less to mankind’s triumph over moon in the later years. In both case, Nepal emerged as the winner. We took the international flight to global tourism. The mystery of mountains cajoled the world. The spirit of mountains embraced the best of the braves for the next 10 years.
It was a theatre of some improbable acts of human spirit and skills where the whole world was keeping eyes for a miraculous play of bravery. The year was 1953. One of the biggest turning point in the history of mankind ‘s bravery and skills was the ascent of Mt. Everest. It threw Nepal in the global limelight. For ages, Mt. Everest stood as the testimony of mankind’s daredevil imagination. The year 1953, a year after the Olympics in Norway and Finland, two finest gentlemen from New Zealand and Nepal were braving their way up into the thin air of Everest. Their triumph proved to be a major cultural turn in the climbing history.
Being a relatively new democratic state in the aftermath of World War II, Nepal’s own forage into the statehood entered into socio economic paranoia. The euphoria of ascent of another eight thousand, the first in the history, Mt. Annapurna in 1950, got the country into top calibration and celebration too, much before the Everest saga. While the tiny Himalayan nation was caught in its own political struggle, its friendly citizens continued to look up to the mountains as metaphor for life’s pursuits amid the global political chaos in the wake of cold war era.
While Nepal was caught napping in its own imagination of sought-after-destination for new found global limelight, the British regime was contemplating long for universal claim for conquering the mighty and improbable challenge of climbing the summit of Everest. The fading supremacy of British Empire in the wake of new global order after Second World War, the empire had already funded eight expeditions to Everest but to no avail. But the ninth expedition was a different story.
Now, everyone has something to do with tourism. Tourism has become a social fact.
The dawn of era of travel and tour had just begun. 1960s carved trails to institutional strengthening of tourism sector, particularly of private companies. More precisely, consolidating the early leaders who dreamed of pulling the strings together in travel tourism. The incorporation of two largest institutions (still by sheer volume and importance), Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) and Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) just kick started a formation of spectrum of leadership and ownership in Nepalese tourism. Arguably, before the state had taken up to the new found global stare at Nepal. Nonetheless, the state of Nepal which was still in the awe of freedom from the autocratic regime, such act of fraternity by private sector was a harbinger of leadership from oblivion. However, it took 15 years for our players to formally organize when the Indians were already at the touch line with the announcement of TAAI, Travel Agents Association of India, in 1951.
Now, entered the fourth five-year plan and box office hit- 1972 Master plan of Tourism. It was no frantic but well thought initiative of the then government to pre design the long road of tourism in Nepal. Supervised by the German cooperation, the plan laid out major underpinnings quite strategic and pivotal to structure the tourism and civil aviation in Nepal.
Kathmandu, quite obvious, took the center stage powered by the only international airport, took the axial for eastward and westward tour, trekking and pilgrimage round trips. Nepal’s effort in mastering the extension of tourism beyond the mystery and mysticism of mountains well coincided with the ascent to the throne of King Birendra. One astounding act of brilliance of the government was the enactment of National Park and wildlife conservation act of 1973. It proved to be one masterstroke as it invigorated the southern plain as tourism attraction. It gave flight to Chitwan and rest is history. 1970s was all about the national parks- Chitwan, Sagarmatha, Langtang, Rara and Shuklaphanta. In the context of their own eventuality, all these parks now form the core of conservation and ecotourism in Nepal.
The story propels now with strong plots. Enters the Tourism Act 1978 repealing the Tourism Industry Act of 1964. Ministry of Tourism was established with strong mandate of regulating the sector. These proceedings were in lieu with policy recommendations of 1972 Master plan. The review of master plan in 1984 shed lights on active engagement of private sector in hospitality and service operation contributing in overall tourism growth both in terms of tourists’ arrival and revenue generation. The decade long progress of the erstwhile master plan of 1972 had fostered the expansion of tour based activities in eastward axis based on Koshi River and east southern plain and westward axis based on Karnali and Bheri rivers and southern plain of Bardiya and Shuklaphanta. However, despite the activities based expansion in the plains of Nepal, the administrative-structural bottleneck remained tough nut to crack to lay foundation for geographical expansion of tourism. The decade also witnessed another consolidation of private sector in the form of Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal, TAAN, bringing the policy lobbing of trekking tourism under a single radar in 1979.
1990s- decade that changed everything
The start to the decade was charged with unprecedented opposition to the regime in Nepal. The whole South Asia was under tremendous turmoil of need of jumping to the territory of political economic shift to open market, economic liberalization and structural reforms of development economy. Nepal too could not resist the temptation of joining the new found yet unchartered regime change. Amid the chaos, there was Nepal Tourism Development Program. It strongly delved into three major areas- limitation of foreign capital in tourism, transport constraints and inter-departmental coordination issues. The constitution of 2047 (1990) guaranteed the sovereign power to the people and it changed the economic landscape. One notable departure into the new journey was the Tourism Policy of 1995 (2052) that paved the way for establishing Nepal Tourism Board. The existing Nepal Tourism Development Program too had made inroads for provocation of its existence. The draft of the Tourism Policy 2052 had proposed the chairmanship of Tourism Minister. It changed over the course and the final installation had tourism secretary as its chairman.
Nepal Tourism Board- the love affairs never fade
Nepal Tourism Board, NTB, as it is called with much love and pride by the private sector. It’s the pride of private sector as they claim, technically and structurally more than half of the stake in board. For an economy like Nepal, the enactment of an institution of such self-functioning, autonomous structure itself was a big achievement for tourism sector. We were the frontrunner among many destinations during the decade of 1990s to foresee such an outward approach to tourism economy. We still continue to surprise many having this one of its kind, the exemplary institution of Nepal. The proliferation of its essence has been very sublime across all political epoch and rules. It had withstood the storms of chaos and conflict and has sailed through the silent water. It belongs to the private sector.
However, one of the most obscure paranoia of our institution is that of its own empiricism. The plurality of reasoning of the institution of such acclaim and value must find its own propensity for the long alienation. Though still young, the expectation of private tourism sector has been both overwhelming and overarching.
The changed context of fiscal federalism is an opportunity. The ramifications of comprehensively complex fiscal federal arrangements and the contours of overlapping political and administrative federal realms have been slowly but surely bringing the future implication. The nascent federal state of Nepal have begun to experience tangible forestate of the potential consequences of its own profligacy. NTB in its preface is and can be an unprecedented opulence. Not the pretext, hitherto, tourism in federalism still has its own story to write. The affairs continue.
Mr. Thapaliya is a senior manager at Nepal Tourism Board and
Ms. Nepali is a senior officer at Nepal Tourism Board.
