Prospects & Challenges of Village Tourism; (A Case Study of Kumpur VDC, Dhading)

Abstract

Tourism sector is one of the potential sectors of Nepal which is significantly contributing in the national economy by earning foreign exchange and generating employment in Nepal. Tourism is the backbone of the state economy which needs to be promoted. Among various types of tourism, village tourism is one of the important and potential in the Nepalese context at the moment. There are few places already been identified for the village tourism and the study focuses on the potential of “Kumpur” village Dhading for the promotion of village tourism. Kumpur is one of the villages of Kumpur VDC Ward No 2. The VDC is situated in the middle of the district. The ward has got major four villages with around 210 households. It is one of the remote and economically back-warded VDCs. It’s a mixed community with Gurung, Braman, Newar, Sarki, Kami, Damai, Magar, Praja etc. The village layout with hillside areas with around 1500 meters altitude, so it's nice and warm even throughout the winter. It has excellent views on the Annapurna range, Ganesh Himal, Langtang, Manaslu, Mardi Himal, Gauri sankar and lots of water falls with panoramic views and natural beauty which surrounds Kumpur. The thesis analyses the village tourism scenario and further potentiality of the target areas. Similarly current and future socioeconomic impact that the village tourism can grant in the village also is analyzed. Key statement of the dissertation is that to explore the current status of the Kumpur village, Dhading for the village tourism and its future potential. The research is a kind of case study of Kumpur village. Qualitative research has been undertaken with the help of primary data visiting the village and collected information through structure and semi structure questionnaires, focused group discussions and interactions from the different respondents and gave a final shape of the report reviewing the secondary information. The Kumpur village is not already explored as tourist destination. Large number of tourists visiting in Kumpur is not seen. However, few agencies are trying to promote it. The villagers have started home stay service from 2007 and around 300 tourists have visited the village so far. It was found that very few houses in three villages i.e. Islang, Kumpur and Bhanjyang are providing the service and the total number of house providing service is seven. According to the villagers, tourists and the entrepreneurs, main motivation for tourist coming in the village is to learn socio economic and cultural aspects as well as to visit and to trek. Even though the home stay program is being run in a very small scale, it has helped the host communities to have some sort of economic benefits, partially employment and largely cultural exchange. The case study demonstrates that the Kumpur has got high level of potential for the village tourism as the initiative has already been started. Its physical strength of being close to Kathmandu and the unique poverty scenario with tourism attraction are generating potential. However, there are several challenges to make the initiative sustained. The major challenges were found as lack of common understanding among residents, lack of tourist products, lack of plan and records, lack of physical facilities in the villages and etc. In conclusion, the potential for the village tourism promotion is possible when all concern stakeholders pay sufficient attention. This should be the concern of local government agencies, residents of the villages and the entrepreneurs for having concrete plan and campaign for its promotion.