Tourism Prospect and Potentiality in Jamunakhadi Simsar and Toruism Area of Jhapa District, Nepal

Abstract

Tourism is the world's fastest growing industry and it is anticipated to be the largest within few years. It is recognized that tourism is the basic and very desirable activities deserving the praise and encouragement of almost all countries in the world. Nepal is one of the most beautiful countries in the world with lofty snow capped mountains and scenic, peaceful settings. It has varieties of tourism resources, places of natural beauty, historical and cultural monuments, art, architecture, festivals etc which are the best attractions to the foreign visitors. Among such attractions Jamunkhadi is one of the most scenic tourist destinations in Nepal. It is a land of natural scenery, the rich bio-diversity, peaceful environment, the ethnic diversity, the rich and diverse culture which attract visitors. The universe of the study has been sampled from the Jamunkhadi Simsar and Tourism Area in Surunga VDC in Jhapa district. The local people, hotel owner, domestic visitors and tourism experts, government service holder etc. were the sample respondents and the sample size is 53 for the study. The study entitled "Tourism Prospect and Potentiality in Jamunkhadi Simsar and Tourism Area of Jhapa District, Nepal" is to analyze the potentialities of tourism in the study area. The specific objectives are: to identify the prospects of tourism in the study area, to analyze the natural and cultural resources to promote tourism in the study area and to analyze the activities of CFUG to promote tourism in the study area. The study is based both on secondary and primary data collection from DDC and VDC profile, reports and direct fill up the structure questionnaire in Jamunkhadi. The researcher own-self participated to collect primary data by using data collection techniques and tools like structure and semi structure questionnaire, key informants interview etc. Findings of the study revealed that there is high potentiality of tourism in Jamunkhadi because it has numerous sightseeing spots, tourism interest places such as the lake, the jungle, the open lane, picnic spot, the mini zoo, the rubber processing center etc. There are many other attractive places around Jamunkhadi Simsar and Tourism Area such as the Mai river and bridge, Domukha, the Mai Mandir, Arjundhara Dham, Satasi Dham, Dhanuskoti Dham, tea gardens etc. It is found that most tourists spend 3 or 4 hours and no tourists spend night in the spot. Generally the visitors are domestic and they spend 200 to 1000 rupees during their stay in the study area. The number of foreign tourist is found very low according to the local people. Local people were found very much interested and devoted for promoting tourism in the study area but there seems lack of co-ordination among the government authorities and local promoters and also lack of fund. In conclusion it can be said that Jamunkhadi deserves high potentiality of becoming one of the best rural tourism destinations of the country. Therefore, package programs and tourism advertisement seem necessary to develop Jamunkhadi as a rural tourist destination.