TOURISM AND RURAL SETTLEMENTS Nepal's ... - ResearchGate

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862 <strong>RURAL</strong> <strong>SETTLEMENTS</strong> Number of Permits ('000) 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1980 1981 1982 1983 (Source: HMG 2003) 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 Year 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2201 2002 2003 Figure 2. Number of Trekking Permits issued in the Annapurna Region gorges, fast flowing rivers, and colorful settlements. Tourism and environmental management in the region are regulated by the Annapurna Conservation Area Project, which is an undertaking of the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (recently renamed the National Trust for Nature Conservation), a nongovernmental organization. Various ethnic groups including the Gurung, Magar, Thakali, Manangi, Brahmin, Chetri, and Newar inhabit the region. In the past, declining trade and deteriorating agricultural productivity in the central hills of Nepal had caused an exodus of people to the lowlands, as new frontiers were opened for resettlement. With the rise in tourism in the early 80s, many families returned to their original homes to invest in related businesses (Heide 1988). Figure 2 gives the annual number of trekking permits issued since 1980. It shows that the numbers have increased from 14,332 in 1980 to 35,800 in 1990, and, by 2000 to more than 65,000; but the numbers have declined since then due to political turmoil in the country (Bhattarai, Conway and Shrestha 2005). Trekking tourism, concentrated along three main routes including Jomsom, Manang, and Annapurna Base Camp (ABC), has become a major economic activity in the region. It provides employment to over 50,000 local guides, porters, and entrepreneurs. Growth and Distribution of Lodges. The first lodge in the region was opened in 1969, but by 1980 there were 45 already, which increased to 203 in 1990 and 497 in 2002. Until 1990, only 29 settlements had lodges and by 1990 this was 69; by 2002 there were 94 with at least one lodge. Growth in the number of properties corresponds to increases in number of trekkers. A comparison of increase in the three regions shows that until 1980 development was concentrated mainly in Jomsom. Significant growth in their numbers continued there during 1980–90; however, ABC and Manang also saw dramatic increases; the former surpassed Jomsom in lodge construction during this period (Table 1). This pattern continued well into 1995, after which Manang saw a dramatic surge in construction, closely followed by Jomsom. Overall, Jomsom has more older (>20 years) lodges (8.1%), compared to ABC (4.9%) and Manang (4.6%): 44% of the units in Manang are less than five years old, compared to Jomsom (36.8%) and ABC (31.4%). However, differences across the three routes are statistically not significant (X 2 = 62.562, p < .109).
SANJAY NEPAL 863 Table 1. Growth in Tourist Lodges and Accommodation Capacity Region 1980 1990 1995 2000 Total a ABC Lodge 9 56 44 36 145 Bed 191 971 708 504 2,374 Bed/Lodge 21.2 17.3 16.1 14.0 16.4 Jomsom Lodge 24 51 42 70 187 Bed 710 1,002 681 988 3,381 Bed/Lodge 29.6 19.6 16.2 14.1 18.1 Manang Lodge 9 42 34 72 157 Bed 208 888 793 1,149 3,038 Bed/Lodge 23.1 21.1 23.2 15.9 19.3 a Not including eight surveyed lodges for which information on bed capacity was missing. Similar growth can be observed in total number of beds added during different periods. Interesting, however, is the ratio of bed and lodge, which appear to decline after 1990 except in Manang, where it increased until 1995 then declined. There are more bigger lodges (>21 beds/lodge) in both Jomsom (30.2%) and Manang (31.4%) than in ABC (22.6%). Conversely, ABC has many smaller lodges (
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TOURISM AND RURAL SETTLEMENTS Nepal's ... - ResearchGate

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