Nepal attracted investments worth around Rs 17 billion inthe tourism sector in 2017, a recent report shows.

The report, entitled Travel and Tourism Economic Impact2018 published by World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), shows totalinvestments in tourism sector reached Rs 17.3 billion in 2017 compared to Rs16.5 billion in 2016. Total investment in tourism sector in 2017 was 2.3percent of the total investments in the country.

The council estimates investments in Nepal's tourismsector to increase by 7.6 percent in 2018 and by 4.7 percent annually over thenext decade to reach Rs 29.4 billion in 2028.
Travel and tourism investment includes investment activities like buyingaircraft, constructing hotels and investment in other tourism activities. 

New investments have helped create 1,027,000 new jobs inthe country of which 497,500 are directly involved in the tourism industry, thereport shows. The direct employment includes employment generated by hotels,travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation services, andrestaurants as well as leisure industries. New jobs created by the tourismindustry in 2017 is 6.6 percent of the total jobs created in 2017. In the year2016, new investments had created 945,000 jobs, including 427,000 people in thetourism sector.

As the government has considered tourism, agriculture andhydropower as the backbone of country's economy, increasing investment intourism industry country is a good sign for the economy, tourism entrepreneurssay. 

Talking to Republica, CN Pandey, president of NepalAssociation of Tour & Travel Agents (NATTA), said that 2017 saw moreinvestments in hospitality and aviation sectors compared to last year.“Entrepreneurs poured more money to build hotel and resorts, and buy new aircraft,”Pandey said adding: "Domestic airline companies have invested to expandtheir fleet, while travel agencies have bought more vehicles." 

Pandey said that entrepreneurs have loosened their pursestrings as they are encouraged by the successful local, provincial andparliamentary elections. “I see investments increasing further in the comingyears as we will have political stability in the country,” he said, urging thegovernment to facilitate investors by bringing business-friendly policies.

Binaya Shah, general secretary of Hotel Association Nepal(HAN), said the investment in tourism sector is of long-term nature and that itwon't bring immediate benefits to the people. “We are seeing huge investmentsin tourism sector because investors are increasingly becoming confidentregarding security of their money,” he added.

More than 50 percent of new investments in tourism sectorgoes to build hotels and resorts, Shah added. “Not only local investors, thehospitality sector is receiving huge investments from foreign investors. Thefact that we are receiving investment from investors from India and China showsthat future is bright for the Nepali tourism industry,” said Shah.

Shah further urged the government to bring friendly lawsfor the industry and make sure that its commitments for the industry astranslated into practice.

Source : My Republica, 2^nd April 2018