Agro Tourism in Nepal

In Nepal, tourism and agriculture are the two major elements of its socio-economic
development, acting as revenue generating industries with multiplier effects on the
economy and contributing heavily to GDP with significant employment and rural income
generation. Among the mid-hill districts of Nepal, Bhaktapur distinctly maintains both of
the two major contributing sectors of the economy, agriculture and tourism. Both of these
sectors serve to enhance gender equality, women participation in decision making, and
benefits for the socio-economic development of Nepal in general and Bhaktapur in
particular, depends heavily on harnessing the potentials of tourism, handicrafts, and highvalue
low-volume agricultural products and human resources. Given the long awaited
Nepalese people’s desire for a nation building process, tourism and agriculture are crucial
sectors of the Nepalese economy with competitive and comparative advantages, and which
enhance each other’s performance.
Bhaktapur, the city of devotees, is an ancient and historic region, but is also an agro-eco
tourist destination spot in Nepal. It maintains the tradition of craftsmanship and an
indigenously unique culture that is famous for pottery, weaving, and handicrafts, but is also
known for its unique agricultural techniques. Likewise, the Bhaktapur district has the high
potential to interlink tourism, agriculture for its socio-cultural development using various
native resources. Newly introduced activities to improve the tourist environment in
Bhaktapur are night and food festivals, Bhaktapur Festival 1997 and the UNESCO
Conference. Bhaktapur has already been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites
(since 1979); thus protection and renovation of ancient and artistic monuments are the
responsibility of world heritage. For the sustainable tourism and agro–eco tourism
development of Bhaktapur, umbrella policy guidelines accompanied with national laws must
be formulated and implemented by considering and focusing on collaborative governance,
regional governance and environmental governance, and focusing on enhancing community
based management. Hence, the following recommendations should be considered for
further development: (1) declare the Bhaktapur as a cultural heritage district with
mandatory allocation of a certain percentage of tourist revenue for agro-tourism
development, (2) develop a mechanism to establish good coordination and benefit sharing
amongst all the tourism entrepreneurs and farm households, (3) develop an environment for
equal opportunity for the poor and marginalized communities and diversify tourism
products and services into the rural areas, (4) create employment opportunities through
local craft, home-stays, local guides, thanka, and cultural programs and (5) explain and
demonstrate the multiplier effect of tourism and agriculture among the stakeholders and
community.
Source :The Journal of Agriculture and Environment Vol:12, Jun.2011