More Nepalis holidaying abroad

More Nepalis holidaying abroad
eKantipur.com, 12-May-07
By Krishna Regmi

So what if not many tourists are coming to Nepal - more and more Nepalis are traveling abroad as holidaymakers!

Nepal is already sending far many more tourists to Malaysia and Thailand than it receives from those two East Asian countries.

According to data at Tourism Malaysia, around 12,000 Nepali tourists visited Malaysia in 2006. During that year, Nepal welcomed only 3,141 Malaysian tourists. Likewise, data with Thailand Tourism Authority shows that 21,180 Nepalis visited Thailand as tourists in 2006. Only 3,632 Thai tourists came to Nepal in the same period.

Besides Thailand and Malaysia, China and Singapore are also emerging as popular destinations for Nepali tourists. Sensing the outbound tourism potential in Nepal, several countries are increasingly trying to tap this opportunity.

"We are aggressively working to woo Nepali tourists, offering attractive packages at reasonable prices. We are expecting at least 10 percent growth in the flow of Nepali tourists this year," said Mohd. Roslan Abdullah, director of Tourism Malaysia, talking to the Post. He said the Nepali market is showing phenomenal growth.

Increasing wealth of people in the high-income bracket and the changing life-style of the young generation are generating more outbound tourism in Nepal. The relative expansion of the middle class may also have contributed to the phenomenon.

Liberalization on the foreign exchange regime, simplified visa procedures and easy availability of tour packages have provided a boost to foreign travel.

Subodh Rana, managing director of Marco Polo Travels, said they, in association with Tourism Malaysia, have been sending around 50 tourists every month to Malaysia. "The six-day package that costs around Rs 40,000 is among the most popular," he said.

Ajay Sharma, business development manager of Genting Interna-tional that operates Malaysia's First World Hotel, the world's largest hotel, said Nepal has become an important market as Nepalis are increasingly spending quality time abroad with their families.

Cruises are also fast gaining popularity among Nepalis. "This April 22 people went to Singapore for the Star Cruise," said Rana. "The package price of the cruise is US$ 2,000."

Rana said in order to meet the diversified choices of Nepali tourists his company has recently introduced seven-day packages for China, costing US$ 1,000.

Even a far away country on the African continent is eyeing Nepali tourists. Sensing the potential, Egypt has just entered the Nepali market.

"We are for the first time coming to Nepali market. Though presently, the tourist volume is not encouraging, there are bright prospects. We are embracing a plan to promote tourism products here to tap potentiality," said Samy Mahmoud, tourism counselor of the Egyptian Tourism Authority (ETA).

Rana of Marco Polo said working together with ETA, they have now launched seven-day packages for Egypt, with prices starting from US$ 470. Apart from these markets, Nepalis have also begun to travel to Europe, the US and Australia. "A number of Nepalis are buying travel packages to those countries. We have offered 20-day packages, which cost in the range of Rs 400,000 to Rs 500,000," said Rabin Bajracharya, sales and marketing director of Lalit Mandap Travels.

He said around 400 Nepalis have been going abroad through his company annually.