A Study on relationship between Economic Development and Ecotourism (A Case Study of Besishahar VDC, Lamjung District)

Abstract

Ecotourism is growing rapidly in the world today particularly in developing countries on the assumption that there will be minimum negative impacts, maximum benefit for local people and their environment, and first hand natural and cultural experiences for visitors. The history of ecotourism is not very long in Nepal. The ecotourism activities started only after the inception of Chitwan National Park in 1973. Nepal is a natural ecotourism destination. In true sense, ecotourism in Nepal is the hybridization of adventure tourism, trekking and culture tourism. Popularly known as a beautiful in nature and rich in culture, Lamjung district lies in Gandaki zone under the Western Development Region of the country. Lamjung has great potential for the development of ecotourism. So, to explore Lamjung as a model ecotourism destination researcher selected the Lamjung as a study area with specific objective of analyzing the economic and cultural impact of ecotourism in Lamjung. This study is based on the primary data collected through questionnaire from 30 local people, 10 tourists and10 hotel operators and secondary data from various sources. This study identified that there is fewer negative impact on culture due to ecotourism in Lamjung. The economic impacts on the area due to eco tourism are broadly studied under following headings; employment, income, price of goods, occupation etc. There is positive economic impact on employment generation, earning income and occupation due to eco tourism in Lamjung. Although, the price of goods is found to be increased in some extent. Religious and cultural activities is foundto be changed due to ecotourism in Lamjung. Opportunities to learn language, cultural interaction with the rest of the world, learning about dress, clean etc. are listed positive cultural impacts. The study concluded that Lamjung offers a high value ecotourism attraction in terms of the natural and cultural attributes. Most of the tourists visiting Lamjung for natural beauty and for peaceful environment. Although a number of constraint to further development of ecotourism were identified as lack of information centre and trained manpower, poor transportation and communication facilities etc. Thus, the future of ecotourism is very bright in Lamjung. All the stakeholders need to be united to solve the problems regarding ecotourism development and thus making the area as an unique ecotourism destination.