Prospects of Recreational Tourism in Dhankuta District (A Case Study of Rajarani VDC Ward No-6)

Abstract

Now tourism is becoming an industry in the world. It is helping to build the strong national economy of different countries by providing job opportunity and earning foreign currency. In the context of Nepal, it is also the major sector of national economy and it is potential land for tourism development. Particularly, natural beauty, geographical diversity, cultural and artistic heritage, the presence of Mt. Everest and several world renowned peaks, rich biological diversity, consisting rare flora and fauna species, innumerable rivers and lakes are the main attractions for tourists. Beside them different historical and religious place, the birth place of lord Buddha and the presence of world wide famous temple of Hindu deity, "Pashupatinath " provide the attractive destination for tourists in world.

Every year millions of tourists are visiting Nepal to fulfill the different purposes. Among them recreational tourism is one of the important sector whose popularity is growing alarmingly in the modern contest. Here in Nepal, are different beautiful recreational sites located in different parts of the country. Among them Rajarani is also one of the popular recreational tourist spot of Dhankuta district as well as Nepal. Now it is facing different types of problems and the tourist's arrival quantity is not satisfactory though it has a lot of potentialities. No any research and empirical studies have been done about problems and prospects of tourism development in Rajarani. That's why Rajarani is selected as a study area. It is hoped that this study will be useful for different individuals and institutions to get detail information about Rajarani. The main objectives of this study were to analyze the inflow of tourist arrival at Rajarani. Similarly, identify the tourism potentiality of the Rajarani and recommend the appropriate suggestions for its development. Mainly the study was based on primary data but some essential information's were taken from different secondary sources. Primary information's were taken through interview and structured questionnaire from local people, tourists, businessmen and other person who were familiar with Rajarani. They were selected by random and purposive sampling method. Mainly beautiful sceneries of the surrounding hill, Mountain view, Rani Tal, Tipical Limbu Culture, different temples, pleasant climate are the main attractions of this place. Similarly, big fair are held In Chandi Purnima and Mangsir Purnima. Tihar, Dashain, Dhan Nach and Dhol nach are the main festivals of Rajarani. In those time domestic and foreign tourists come from different places. Low level facilities are available for the tourists but these facilities are not sufficient. Facility of transportation and hotel restaurant are the burning problems of Rajarani. That's why the government and non government organizations should launch different programs to address the present problems in order to change the physical setting destination for recreational tourists in and around Rajarani.