Nepal remains one of the favorite tourist destinations for the entire world, be it the mountaineering enthusiast coming to claim his highest mountain summit, Trekking - from tourist cities to the snow-clad base camps, Tours to the Buddhist pilgrimage and historic sites, etc.,  but unfortunately, the same is not reflected when we think about domestic tourism. Domestic tourism in Nepal still cannot hold its own when compared to International tourism in revenue or in popularity. That’s the situation right now.  Or is it?

We at Temple Tiger have been promoting domestic tourism for the last decade or more and we have always been very positive and hopeful for the domestic tourism industry in Nepal. Domestic travelers have certainly shown their credibility in recent years, name it the dark times after the devastating earthquake or the recent pandemic. They have always been there, keeping the momentum and shining ray of hope in dark times.

The tourism statistics from the last few years also show that the impact of domestic tourism on the economy of Nepal is not as low as anticipated, and we couldn’t be so far from the truth. In reality, the domestic tourism income is still high compared to international tourism and the numbers of tourists are far greater (this point is obvious) than the international tourist. Yes, the international tourist brings in much-needed revenue and the expenditure per tourist is very high compared to the domestic tourist but that’s not what we’re talking about right now. We’re talking about the size and state of the domestic tourism industry in Nepal and we couldn’t be more wrong.

Albeit old, according to a report by the World Travel and Tourism Council, spending by Nepal’s domestic tourists made up 56 percent of the industry’s total revenue of Rs 240.7 billion in 2018. The year after the devastating Gorkha earthquake, in 2016 as per the report by WTTC on Travel and Tourism Economic Impact 2017 in Nepal, domestic travel spending generated 65.6 percent of direct travel and tourism GDP in 2016 compared with 34.4 percent for foreign visitors spending. The data speaks for itself. Domestic tourism has always been there for Nepal, whether we acknowledge it or not. Probably we were too keen on the bigger piece of the pie? Or in some instances, we might have not given enough thought to domestic tourism. But the travelers have spoken by traveling and their voices are being heard.

The following are the areas of tourism that witnessed a sizeable number of domestic tourists in the last few years:

• Besides traditional leisure destinations such as Pokhara and Chitwan, the Annapurna Circuit trekking route has become a major attraction for domestic tourists, who throng to the destination in huge numbers.

• The number of sightseers by motorcycle has increased significantly in the Beni-Jomson region. The stretch becomes a favorite sightseeing destination after the construction of the road between the two points.

• Lumbini, the birthplace of the divine Gautam Buddha draws scores of Nepalis every year. Over 1.55 million tourists visited Lumbini in 2017, out of which 1.25 million visitors were domestic ones.

• Nepal’s biggest and deepest freshwater lake in Mugu, has also been attracting domestic visitors for the past few years. The destination has been recently gaining popularity among Nepalese.

And the trend has been increasing, and more and more people are traveling across the country. Social media is the biggest factor that has given domestic tourism a huge boost this year, especially during the pandemic. Nepal’s huge user base has made social media a very effective tool to promote destinations and properties. Once posts go viral on social media, they instantly start trending and everybody wants to go there. This has made it extremely important for us to be social media savvy to tap the domestic market. The recent examples being the likes of Manahukot in Tanahun, Teen Dhare Jharana (dubbed Bahubalki waterfall), Buddha hill, and the Norway Dhunga of Makwanpur.

In summary, we have been having good success with domestic tourism in the past years and we are seeing a massive surge in travelers this year and which is an excellent sign for the industry. Even though foreign tourism brings in much needed foreign exchange into the country, neglecting domestic tourism will have far-reaching consequences to the industry, especially during the crisis as we experienced during the earthquake and in the current scenario of the global pandemic.