Introduction
Tourism industry has become one of the world’s most important economic activities and major sources of economic growth for every country. It is a comprehensive industry involving many industries such as hospitality, transportation, tourist destinations, travel companies, and more. People who travel domestically or internationally are known as tourists, it is closely related to the hotel industry, the hospitality industry and the transport industry. These all industries are coming under the tourism industry. Tourism industry plays a vital role in the development of any country. Tourism boosts the revenue of the economy, creates thousands of jobs, develops the infrastructure of a country, and helps to spread the home culture in foreign lands. The tourism industry is one of the major sources of income in Nepali economy and Nepal has great potential in the tourism industry.
Tourism in Nepal is the fourth largest industry by employment, also Nepal was voted No 1 destination to visit in 2016 and Nepal was awarded “best value destination and 5th among the top 10 countries according to Lonely Planet. These stats already show Nepal is one of the important and lovable places for tourists to visit, and it shows Nepal has great potential and possibilities in the tourism sector. Nepal has the world's highest peaks, Mount Everest, rich in national parks, snow-fed rivers, wonderful trekking routes, and wonderful. Nepal is rich in its cultural and religious diversity as well. And with the pleasant climate and ever welcoming nature of Nepalese show there us a tremendous prospect of tourism ahead in Nepal. Nepal has tourism places like Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur, Pokhara, Ghandruk, Lumbini, Chitwan, Jomsom and more. These are the already popular places of Nepal where most of the tourists come to visit. With this great potential of tourism in Nepal, the government and locals are moving forward and helping in developing tourism and also planning lots of projects for the future which helps to attract more tourists.
Places like Pokhara, Ghandruk, Ilam, Poonhill, Tansen and Bandipur etc., are popular places in the hill region of Nepal. These places are already developed places of Nepal and if the government and locals give more attention to this place it has great potential to attract more tourists. Places
like Dhulikhel, Gorkha, the dhorpatan hunting reserve, rara lake are the most underrated places in Nepal. These places have great potential to attract tourists but lack of involvement of the government, these places remain unknown for many tourists around Nepal and the world.
Materials and Method
Nepal is one of the most visited and popular places for lots of tourists, and the number of international tourists has been increasing over the years. Due to the increasing arrivals of tourists, the amount of foreign exchange has increased. However, Nepal's tourism industry has not necessarily achieved its full growth potential.
SWOT Analysis
SWOT stands for strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats. SWOT Analysis is a tool that helps to analyze what best thing you have, what opportunity you can have in your future. SWOT analysis helps you to find your weaknesses and know your strengths, it can uncover areas of the place that are you back. A SWOT analysis examines both internal and external factors of environment, strength and weakness are internal factors and opportunity and weakness are external factors. In this case study we are going to do SWOT analysis of Nepal tourism industry.
• Strength
Generally, strength consists of what do you do well? What unique resources can you draw on? And what value can you create? Likewise in the tourism sector, strength is resources and things you have in your place. Strengths of the tourism industry such as diverse culture, produce quality products, comfortable living place, safe and secure environment and festivals & fairs. For our country Nepal, our strength is our diverse culture, there are 125 ethnic groups who speak 123 different languages and follow more than 10 different religions. Another area of promoting Nepalese tourism lies in exploring pilgrimage destinations scattered throughout the nation. Places like Pashupathinath Temple, Swayamnhunath stupa, Barah Chhetra, Janakpur, Lumbini, Muktinath and more. Also, our country Nepal has places like Pokhara, Mount Everest, and tourists come here for mountaineering and adventure trekking. Likewise, Nepal is also a suitable destination for rock climbing and mountain biking as the outdoor adventurous sports.
• Weaknesses
Weakness is those side of things where you have low resources than others, what are others likely to see as weaknesses? Tourism weaknesses may be outdated marketing, seasonable workforce, low quality service, less innovation and creativity. Though Nepal is culturally, naturally and geographically rich, there are some weaknesses in Nepal tourism.
Problems such as lack of infrastructural development, lack of conservation of cultural and religious sites, lack of tourist goods, lack of proper tourism center, lack of publicity and internal political issues. Normally strengths and weaknesses are internal analysis of SWOT analysis. These things might be controlled if they manage things properly.
• Opportunity
Opportunities are the external environments, they are openings or chances for something positive to happen, but they have to know how to grab opportunity. In the case of tourism, Nepal has tons of potential and future. Nepal is renowned for its natural beauty, high Himalayan and culture. Supporting the culture and environment, there are a diverse range of products available to people traveling, from adventure tour and mountaineering options to relaxing honeymoon packages and these products are well dispersed. Nepal commands immense possibilities of Economic Development through the tourism industry. Also, Nepal has a space for the development of high value tourism products. For example, a number of areas are suitable for development as mountaineering destinations, and high-value services can be established around existing products. Business and events tourism could be developed in a number of areas, building on the steady flows currently witnessed. Pokhara would be an ideal destination, if international and national connectivity could be improved.
• Threats
This is also an external environment which is uncontrollable, it could include anything that can negatively affect your business from outside. For tourism industries threats include competitive market, visa restriction, no institute tourism, financial limitations, environmental concerns and mainly the pandemic of Covid-19. For Nepal tourism there are a lot of challenges and threats. Nepal tourism have challenges such as poor infrastructure, including poor coverage and low quality of roads, and increases the costs and reduces the value captured from tourists. This presents challenges to businesses looking to provide higher-quality services, and also constrains poorer people from benefiting from tourist flows in both rural and urban areas. And also Lack of transport and communication, lack of recreational facilities, lack of trained manpower, problem of pollution, lack of advertisement, inadequate tourist centers, lack of quality hotels, and lack of security create a big challenge for Nepali tourism.
PESTLE Analysis
Tourism industry has been one of the growing industries for decades, and it’s not stopping growing. Tourism is one of the primary aspects that promote intercultural harmony. This is also a strong addition to any country’s economy. In this case study, we present an analysis of the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors that affect the tourism industry.
• Political: - One of the major factors that affect tourism industry political factors. Political factors include political stability, tourists avoid those places where politics are not stable. There are lots of places which are very-very rich in culture that would be popular tourist spots for tourists but because of political instability tourists avoid going there. Countries like Syria, Iraq are examples. Other factors such as government regulations and open borders include political factors.
• Economic: - Economic factors are one of the major factors that affect the tourism industry. If the country's economy is stable, they can easily develop their tourism. But countries like Nepal who have less economic stability are struggling to develop their tourism industry. Economic factor is the negative point for Nepal tourism because there is no stable economy and there are less economic models which help in tourism.
• Socio-Cultural: - For Nepali tourism, we have our own plus points and minus points in this factor. The major plus social plus is our cultural diversity, more than 100 ethnic groups who have their own culture. Tourists who are coming to visit have an opportunity to see the diverse culture of Nepal. Participating in the local festivities gives visitors an insight into the life of the Nepali people and makes their stay in Nepal more colorful. And negative point of our culture is the various religion problem between peoples, and discrimination between castes.
• Technological: - In terms of technology Nepal has a big disadvantage in this sector because Nepal is far behind compared to other countries in terms of technology. There are lots of places in Nepal where there is less technological development, places like Ghandruk. There is less technological development and less transportation service. Technological factors include development of transport systems and availability of information.
• Legal: - Legal factors include rules and regulations made in that particular place.
Rules and regulations are a very-very important factor for any place, it helps to balance and maintain a good environment.
• Environmental: - Environmental factors are such as Climate change, and pollution. Tourism not only contributes to climate change, but is affected by it as well. Climate change is likely to increase the severity and frequency of storms and severe weather events, which can have disastrous effects on tourism in the affected regions. So, to avoid this crisis rules and regulations have to be made regarding this factor.
Discussion and Results
Above analysis is the environmental threat & and opportunity profile of Nepali tourism which help to understand what are the major strengths of Nepali tourism, weaknesses of Nepali tourism, what opportunity that Nepal has in the field of tourism and how to grab it and in last threat for Nepali tourism and how to avoid them.
Conclusion
Tourism industry has great potential, if the government gives more care in tourism it helps in the economic development of the country. With the help of SWOT and PESTLE analysis the government can see what are the weaknesses of our tourism, and what is our strength in the field of tourism. What is the opportunity that our country has now and in the future and it shows how to grab it and also help to avoid threats in the coming future? Tourism as an emerging global phenomenon enhances the world travelers to explore the wonders of the world. Nepal is also an integral part of a global system of tourism which cannot escape benefiting from this emerging field. Tourism is a great opportunity for foreigners to learn about a new culture, but it also creates many opportunities for local citizens. It allows young entrepreneurs to establish new products and services that would not be sustainable on the local population of residents alone. Moreover, residents experience the benefits that come with tourism occurring in their own country.