Banda, strike will hurt tourism recovery efforts: Entrepreneurs

KATHMANDU, Aug 16:

At a time when tourism is recovering slowly after the earthquake, tourism entrepreneurs say announcement of strikes and bandas will send negative message to the international market ahead of the new tourist season that begins in September.

They also say most of the travelers cancel or postpone their trips as insurance premium rises during strikes and bandas.
Because of bandas and strikes, different countries update their travel advisories which affect tourist arrivals. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of United Kingdom updated its travel advisory on August 12, referring to Sunday's nationwide strike.

"When travel advisories are updated referring to bandas and strikes, travelers generally postpone their trip due to bandas and strikes due to safety reasons and the hassles that they have to face ," Sagar Pandey, general secretary of Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), said.

Amar Bahadur Shahi, general secretary of Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO), said announcement of strikes and bandas has discouraged entrepreneurs who are trying hard for recovery of tourism industry. "Booking for coming season was already down by 75 to 80 percent compared to last year. Tourists go on vacation to relax and enjoy. They won't come here if bandas and strikes continue because nobody wants to face unnecessary hassles," said Shahi.

Bandas and strikes, at a time when tourists are inquiring about situation here, will hurt recovery efforts, according to tourism entrepreneurs. "Because of the strike, we are getting queries about bandas and strikes," Vinayak Shah, general secretary of Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), said. "People are interested to come here. But when we bandas and strikes are announced, they will rethink their plan."

Shah also said hotels have received an average of 30 percent of booking for the coming season.

Though the strike enforcers have said that they will not interrupt tourist vehicles, many tourists are stranded on highways. Suman Ghimire, vice president of HAN Sauraha Chapter, said the strike had big impact on tourism of Chitwan. "Tourists coming from Pokhara and Kathmandu are stranded on highways," Ghimire said, adding that bandas and strikes will affect the industry.

Hotels in Sauraha have also received around 30 percent booking for the coming season.

Raj Gyawali of Social Tours said that strikes should be banned altogether as the hassles it create leave negative impact on tourists even if they do not cancel their trip.

"The strike of few days ago didn't have much impact on travelers. But once frequency of strikes increases, it will make huge impact," Binaya Acharya, secretary of TAAN Western Regional Association, said.

According to Acharya, all the hotels and restaurants in Pokhara were operational on Sunday.

"Booking for trekking in and around Pokhara is down 60 percent compared to last year. But we are hopeful that tourism will perform better in 2016 if political situation turns stable," he added.

Source: Republica