Pastoralism and Rangeland Management on the Tibetan Plateau in ...

part of the industry, trekking in the Nepal Himalaya involves people walking
either alone or accompanied by trekking agents’ support staff <strong>and</strong> staying in
either local houses or tents. This type of tourism activity has proven itself able
to spread tourism benefits to areas that are only accessible on foot. About 43
percent of all international leisure arrivals now go trekking, which consistently
rates highly amongst visitors from the West. Annapurna Conservation Area
(ACAP), Sagarmatha (Everest) National Park (SNP) <strong>and</strong> Langtang National
Park (LNP) are recorded as the most preferred trekking areas. Similarly mountaineering
expeditions are other key tourism activities in the Nepalese highl<strong>and</strong>s
followed by village tourism, a relatively new style of ecotourism.
Unlike other branches such as mountaineering <strong>and</strong> adventure sports, ecotourism
respects the environment <strong>and</strong> encourages <strong>and</strong> promotes the well-being
of local people. For that reason, ecotourism has also been seen in different forms
such as Alternative Tourism, Sustainable Tourism, Community based Tourism,
Responsible Tourism, Pro-Poor Tourism, Village Tourism, <strong>and</strong> Cultural Tourism.
Ecotourism in Nepal has been used as a pro-poor strategy in rural regions
lacking in other economic development potential (Thapa 2005). National
Ecotourism Strategy <strong>and</strong> Marketing Programme developed in 2001lays out
seven strategic directions that reflect the shared experiences of all the agencies
<strong>and</strong> private sector organizations associated with ecotourism development.
The strategic direction sets forth the key areas of concerns including Nepal’s
experiences in ecotourism development, role of partnerships <strong>and</strong> alliances with
partner agencies, government <strong>and</strong> private sector involvement, need for new area
development, <strong>and</strong> ecotourism marketing. 17
2.4 Institutional arrangements
The GoN has given adequate attention for tourism development in the country
by establishing institutional arrangements. The National Planning Commission
(NPC), the apex planning body of the GoN, has included tourism
as poverty reduction strategy in its periodic plans. The Ministry of Culture
Tourism <strong>and</strong> Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) is responsible for implementing the
policy, licensing <strong>and</strong> regulation of the tourism industry. The Nepal Tourism
Board (NTB) undertakes planning <strong>and</strong> product development, international
<strong>and</strong> domestic promotion, <strong>and</strong> tourism research.
In addition, Nepal has highly developed networks of private organizations
promoting tourism. They include the Trekking Agents Association of Nepal
17 National Ecotourism Strategy <strong>and</strong> Marketing Programme of Nepal 2001,
Part One : National Ecotourism Strategy http://www.discovernepal.com.np/pdf/
nationallEco2001.pdf
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> > > 3. Eco-tourism <strong>and</strong> Nature Protection in Relation to <strong>Pastoralism</strong> <strong>and</strong> Rangel<strong>and</strong> <strong>Management</strong>