Tourism and disaster resilience in Nepal: A study of Bhotekoshi riverside of Sindhupalchok

Abstract

This study tries to find out the status of disaster resilience in the conduct of tourism business units of Bhotekoshi riverside area and also tries to find out probable role of major actors involved in disaster risk management. Methodology applied are field observation of the study area, case study of tourism units and key informants interview. Two tourism resorts of the area are purposefully selected for in-depth case study whereas stakeholders from local to central level are covered during interview and consultation.

Even though disaster management approach has noticed paradigm shift in recent years, study couldn't find any remarkable symptoms of proactive initiations at local level. Attempts for disaster risk reduction at the community level are lacking. Only few professional organization's role is aligned to DRR in post earthquake scenario.

Policy alignment in line with international commitments for DRR like Sendai Framework followed by actions at local level is important. For this community level capacity building and use of recent technologies, integrated efforts among the stakeholders in both disaster management and tourism development is key aspects of interrelation between disaster management and sustainable tourism.

Role of government, business, local communities and their integrated efforts are also crucial. Preparation and mitigation related activities with appropriate capacity building programs are better to expedite in a coordination.