Nepal being recognized as one of the world’s best tourist destinations, witnessed tumbling flow of tourists during the cheerful occasion of Christmas this year.
The most diligent tourist belt in capital Kathmandu, Thamel felt a declining number of foreigners celebrating Christmas compared to last year despite delightful preparations.
Even though Thamel remained crowded by hoards of domestic as well as foreign guests during Christmas and New Year, yet the number was disappointing this year compared to last year’s Christmas celebration.
“There was no presence of guests as we were hoping to drop in at our corner,” said Kumar Gurung, owner of The Funky Buddha Garden Restaurant in Thamel bemoaning at the presence of foreign guests during Christmas Eve.
“The flow of tourists had declined by 90 percent on Christmas Eve compared to last year,” Gurung told Xinhua on Friday, adding that he has no hope of more tourists coming to Thamel for New Year celebration too.
According to him, one of the reasons behind flip-flop of tourists flow in Thamel during this year’s Christmas is the three-day general strike called on by the Trade Union Association of Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (UCPN-M) on Dec. 20-22.
Alike Gurung, Abhinuv Shakya, manager of the Northfield Caf also felt the declining flow of tourists by 40 percent this year. “Despite regular menu, we are offering some special cuisine on the occasion of Christmas along with traditional Nepali music to cater to our guests, yet there are no guests as we expected,” he said.
However, President of the Restaurant and Bar Association of Nepal Tejendra Shrestha highlighted the enticing number of Nepali guests dropping in Thamel to celebrate Christmas.
According to him, every year more and more Nepali people, whether they are Christian believer or not, are merry making this festival together with their family and friends.
Although, more and more Nepali people are celebrating Christmas since Nepal has been declared as a secular country and Christmas as a national holiday two years before, the celebration has been limited to restaurants and individual level, according to Shrestha.
“Since Thamel is one of the busiest tourist corners in Nepal, we tend to observe various festivals that our guests celebrate in their society,” he said.
However, some of the predicted foreign guests planning to visit Nepal canceled their trips due to security reasons and those who are already in Nepal went outside following the three-day long general strike, according to Shrestha.
“These predicted tourists get information regarding the country’s situation and pre-planned strikes called on by various political groups in the country via the Internet,” Shrestha told Xinhua on Friday.
Shrestha emphasized that the tourism sector should not be politicized which is the backbone of Nepal’s economy. “Tourism is such a business which will soar high when there is guarantee of security and peace and declines if there is instability in the country,” he said.
According to him, there are more than 1,600 restaurants in Kathmandu among which Thamel alone engrosses more than 140 restaurants.
Nepal has been listed among “top 10 travel destinations in the world” in the Lonely Planet “Best in Travel 2010″ along with El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Malaysia, Morocco, New Zealand, Portugal, Suriname and the United States as one of the top 10 travel destinations, according to the Nepal Tourism Board.