Potentialities of Village Tourism (A Case Study in Kuibheer Region of Ilam District)
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Department of Rural Development
Abstract
Village tourism is a newly emerging concept where the visitor can really
experience with the village life style and environment. Village tourism is a
means of sustainable tourism development, it refers to tourists staying in or
near village, of traditional village in remote areas and learning about the
village way of life. This kind of tourism involves provision of local style
accommodation, locally produced food items on tourists and the organizations
of tourist participation in village activities. This study gives the real picture of
tourism potentialities in Kuibheer region of Ilam District. Among the various
tourism areas in Ilam, Kuibheer region of Chamita VDC is also one of the
potential tourism area. Views of Sunrise and Majestic Himalays, Deumai
Pokhari and its Surrounding Community Forest and Pasture land, Sight seeing,
Seasonal trekking, Paragliding, Rock Climbing, Scenic beauty, Flora and
Fauna Cultural diversity etc. are main tourism products of Kuibheer region.
The objectives of the study are to identify the existing major tourism products
of the Kuibheer region, to explore the potential tourism products in Kuibheer
region and to explore the Kuibheer region as a major tourism destination of
Ilam. Therefore, this study is helpful for those people who take interest in
Village based tourism development planners as well as local planners to
emphasis upon it.
The study is based on both primary and secondary data. More
specifically, it is based on primary data and information which is collected by
researcher himself with the help of different data collection tools and
technique. 50 households and 8 hotels were taken for sample size from
Kuibheer region and 20 tourists of different countries are also interviewed. For
this purpose simple random sample random sampling method has been used in
survey of tourism and households and purposive sampling method has been
applied for hotel survey. However, secondary source of data and information
has been used wherever they needed. Kuibheer region has enormous tourism products to attract the tourist. It
has a god gifted natural asstes like Kuibheer rock, Kuibheer Danda, Dumai
Muhan (origin place of Deumai river), scenic beauty, views of sunrise and
Himalayas and etc. which will be the great interest for the tourist. But there are
so many problems to develop tourism due to the lack of basic infrastructures.
The existing 8 local level hotels with poor facilities are not sufficient to provide
the services for present demands of tourists. In 2010, 73.07% tourists stayed at
hotel only one day /night that is very short. In present time hoteliers are
benefited mainly by the domestic tourists. This area is visited by different
countries tourists but the domestic tourists share is dominant (70%). Tourist's
view of tourism development in this area is optimistic. There is good possibility
of tourism in and around the Kuibheer region in near future. Although, sample
tourists evaluate most of the existing infrastructure are in bad condition.
Ethnic diversity is found in the study area. Historical tribes Sherpa and
their culture are one of the attractions for tourists. Among 50 sampled
household 44% are Rai and agriculture is the main occupation of 70% sampled
household's population. There is lack of well - equipped hotels to stay in the
study area but the local community is providing home service providing
capable houses are found about 64 in Kuibheer region. In the view of its
potential for the tourism development, local community seen to be more
interested to develop this area jointly as a tourist destination. They see the
good prospects of tourism in future.
The main problems associated with tourism in the study area are lack of
transportation, accommodation, skilled manpower, effective tourism plan,
security service, advertisement, publicity and etc. Thus it is necessary for the
development of tourism infrastructures to develop tourism in the study area as
shown by the output of the research.