Prospect of Eco-Tourism In Upper Humla

Abstract

Tourism Industry is growing rapidly in the world today . It is estimated that about 80 % of Nepal's tourism market is linked with nature tourism or eco-tourism . In Nepal, ecotourism has been a great source of income and Community Development in some destinations. Humla is hidden and treasure Himalayan which is an open and living ethnic museum. It is also home of caravan, i.e. yak, sheep, goat and mulecaravan. Therefore, This study has attempted to analyze the prospect of eco-tourism in Upper Humla . The study entitled Prospect of Eco-tourismin Upper Humla is relatedto Upper Humla, which cover 13 VDCs. Especially, Upper Humla is called Marghor Himal to Hilsa (Tibet border) . To complete this study, 75 Local people and 15tourists were selected and interviewed. Primary data and necessary information were collected through field survey and using various research techniques and instrumenti.e. structured questionnaire, FGD, checklist, filed observation etc. With the help of various literature, secondary data and information were also collected. The overall objective of this study is to explore the prospect of eco-tourism in Upper Humla . The total population of Upper Humla was 19019. Among them 9933 were males and 9086were females . Total households of the area was 3107. Most of the people of the are as peak Nepali (Humli Khasa) and lama (Bhote Kham) Language . Main religion in the study area was Hinduism and Bauddhism. The climate of this area was cold and tropical. April to September is the best season for tourist visiting Humla. The study revealed that the history of tourism in Humla is not very long. Afterthe opening of the Simikot airport in 1978, and the route to kailash, later in 1993,flow of tourists to Humla gradually increased. Since F.Y. 2056/57 up to 2062/63Baishakha total 3176 tourists visited in Humla but presently it has drastically decreased due to growing political instability in Nepal. Majority of tourists ( 60%)visited Humla for trekking to Mt. Kailash and Mansarobar lake. Among the total 75local respondents, most of the respondents (40%) said that the behavior of tourists towards local people was normal type. Similarly, majority of the tourists (53.3%) saidlocal people are helpful and co-operative towards them. The study showed that Upper Humla was rich in eco-tourism resources. Limivalley, Halji Gompa, Selima lake, Chyachhara waterfall, Kermi hot spring, Yalbanggompa, Tumkot gompa, Simikot valley, Shiva temple, Nyinba Villages, Raling gompa, Kharpunath temple, Humla Karnali, Saipal, Panchamukhi & Chanla Himal,Dude and Lade Daha were major tourism spots in this area. Majority of the respondent said that natural beauty, cultural heritage and eco-tour & trekking were the main eco-tourism attractions of Upper Humla. Upper Humla is well known in medicinal and floristicplants and fauna. So, it has a good scope for medical tourism.Majority of the local (20%) and tourist (20%) respondents expressed that lack of transportation and communication facilities were the main problems of ecotourism development in Upper Humla. Infact, the process of tourism development in Humlais taking place gradually, and the flow of tourists to Humla at present is quite low because of safety ans security factors in one hand and easy acces on the other. If these bottlenecks are not overcome, then Humla will failed to attract large number of potential tourists in near future. Most of the local respondent (25.6%) suggested that infrastructural and super sturctural facilities should be developed for eco-tourism development in Upper Humla.