Problems and Prospects of Tourism in Ilam district (A case study of Sandakpur Region)

Abstract

This thesis entitled ‘Problems and Prospects of Tourism in Ilam District;A case study of Sandakpur region’ has been prepared for the fulfillmentof Master Degree in Rural Development from the Central Department ofRD, TU, Kirtipur. It is totally based on the field survey in whichresearcher has dug out that tourism is one of the greatest industries inIlam. It is because of its natural environment mixing with culturalrichness. The origin of tourism can be traced back to the earliest period of humanhabitation on the globe. Of course, there exist differences betweenmodern traveling and traveling in the earlyperiod. Nevertheless, it isthe habit of traveling which has initiated the growth of the survival andexistence ofearly men. No doubt, it is originated in the advent of humancivilization and change of human desires. World Tourism Organizationdefines tourists as people who "travel toand stay in places outside their usual environment for more thantwenty-four (24) hours and not more than one consecutive year forleisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of anactivity remunerated from within the place visited". Tourism has becomea popular global leisure activity. In 2008, there were over 922 millioninternational tourist arrivals, with a growth of 1.9% as compared to2007. International tourism receipts grew toUS$944 billion (euro642billion) in 2008, corresponding to an increase inreal termsof 1.8%. It is accounted that the three big industries of the world are Oil,Automobiles and tourism. In Nepal, the first two are not presentlyfeasible due to the geography and lack of technical knowledge that iswhy the third big industry i.e. tourism is very noticeable. It is the bestone not because of that only but of the world crowdedcountries are sideof us. So, for the sustainable national development, tourism is regardedas an efficient and trustful approach. VI This research has been conducted on the basis of field survey applyingexploratory cum descriptive in which 25 locals, 10 tourists and 5 hotelsand lodges were taken as sample. It is selected by using simplerandom sampling method. Major research methods used in this studywere FGD, KII, and Interview and HHs survey. This study had found that animal husbandry and agriculture are themajor occupations of this area. The predominant population used in thestudy said that low tourism infrastructures are the major problem fortourism development in Sadakpur region. Similarly, the prospects of thetourism in this area can be only acquired by creating infrastructuresand generating awareness to the locals. Out of the total local, 28 percent responded that tourism has beencreating employment opportunities followed by 24 percent of incomeincrease. In case of cooking fuels, 40/40 percent sampled hotelsownersused firewood and kerosene as cooking fuels and there is notconnected by national electric grid. So, even if this area is regarded asthe most important destinations, no concrete measures have taken fromthelocal as well as national level.