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The people of Pokhara have been waiting for their city to be formally declared as the tourism capital of the country for nearly half a decade. Both the government and the people's representatives here desire rapid development in Pokhara through tourism, while tourism professionals hope to grow their businesses with the implementation of tourism-related projects in the area. Four years have passed since the Gandaki Province Government sent a request to the federal government, but there has been no response yet. It seems that these aspirations may remain just an imagination for a few more months or years. A study of facts upon which the provincial government and local bodies based their plan to make Pokhara a tourism hub shows no research has been conducted on this front yet. This raises concerns about the feasibility and sustainability of the plan. The talks of making Pokhara the tourism capital of the country have become a tool for people's representatives to convince the public of rapid development. People's representatives frequently mention it during formal ceremonies as a way to demonstrate their commitment to the community. However, the lack of study on the feasibility and sustainability of the plan raises questions about whether it is truly achievable. "We are preparing to declare Pokhara as the tourism capital of the country very soon, which will add significant value to your business as well," Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan City, Dhana Raj Aacharya, said during a program organized by hotel professionals at Begnas Lake a few days ago. In response to the curiosity of locals about how people's representatives plan to utilize the natural resources available in Pokhara, Mayor Acharya said that if Pokhara becomes a formal tourism hub, it will open the way for many more fast-tracked projects. However, in the absence of authentic research on the feasibility and sustainability of such a plan, it is unclear whether these projects will truly benefit the community. Other people's representatives also make similar statements when addressing tourism-related programs. The Chief Minister and other members of the province cabinet have also been saying the same. However, it is uncertain whether these statements are grounded in reality or simply empty promises. In 2019, the Office of the Chief Minister submitted a formal request to the federal cabinet for the declaration of Pokhara as the tourism capital of the country. However, the federal cabinet has not yet responded to this request. It is unclear when a decision might be made. At the end of 2021, the newly formed coalition government also passed a letter with the same purpose to the federal government. "The second request to declare Pokhara as the tourism capital of the country also remains unanswered," said Chief Minister of Gandaki Province Krishna Chandra Nepali. According to him, the declaration would greatly benefit the people of the area, not only by increasing the value of their property, but also by creating additional employment opportunities. Stakeholders argue that the natural heritage, trekking routes, and high mountain peaks found in Pokhara make it an ideal location for a tourism hub. "That is why the idea of making Pokhara a tourism capital was developed," said former minister for the Gandaki Province Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment Bikash Lamsal. According to Lamsal, the provincial government decided to make Pokhara the tourism capital of the country in 2019 after studying proposals from tourism-related organizations and listening to the experiences of tourism professionals. However, the plan was delayed due to the covid pandemic and the subsequent change in government. According to the Status Paper of Gandaki Province Policy and Planning Commission published in 2019, almost 40% of the total tourists visiting Nepal come to Pokhara. The average stay of tourists in Pokhara is typically three days, which the provincial government hopes to increase to at least one week. The data in the Status Paper was reportedly based on reports from tourism-related organizations and the experiences of tourism entrepreneurs. There is no authentic data on the number of tourists visiting Pokhara. This lack of local data raises concerns about the accuracy and reliability of the information used to support the plan to make Pokhara the tourism capital of the country. Lack of Data It is important to identify the volume of tourists as well as their interests in order to provide appropriate facilities and calculate the economic value of their visit. However, Pokhara's tourism has not yet been formally counted, as the city is still in the process of developing hotel standards and promoting local culture and cuisines. Both the province and local governments are relying on secondary sources for data on the potential of Pokhara as the country’s tourism capital. However, there is no staff or research dedicated to collecting data on the opportunities and facilities available to tourists in Pokhara. Until now, tourist data has been collected from three entry points and police checkpoints in Muglin, Galyang, and Pokhara Airport. The collection of data began in 2019 at the initiative of the provincial tourism ministry when the nation was preparing for the Visit Nepal Year 2020 tourism promotional campaign. However, the data collection relies on the oral inquiries of police personnel at the checkpoints and lacks authenticity, as there is no standardized method for identifying tourists. Tourists are only recorded if they are foreign and this information is obtained orally from bus drivers and conductors. Additionally, data on the number of tourists visiting Pokhara is also obtained from the counters of Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP). However, this data does not provide a complete picture as it only accounts for those coming for trekking purposes.

Pokhara Regional International Airport is set to celebrate its formal opening with the start of the year 2023. On Jan 1, an international flight is set to make its first touchdown on the airport’s runway. Binish Munakarmi, chief of the airport project, says aside from a few technical and logistical bumps that need smoothing, they are ready to launch the airport by the set deadline. The airport has been a long time coming. Its genesis goes back to the early 1970s when the government acquired land for the project. But the actual work would not start until 2016 due to decades-long political, bureaucratic and financial hurdles. Pokhara, the city of lakes, is one of the most visited tourist destinations of Nepal. It is the gateway to the Annapurna mountain region that draws tens of thousands of foreign trekkers every year.  So, naturally, opening an international airport in the city is only a matter of common sense. More tourists equals more revenue, but there is a catch. The $300m Pokhara airport project was built with a $209m soft loan from China’s Export-Import Bank (Exim). As per agreement, 25 percent of this loan is interest free and the remaining lending is pegged at an interest rate of 2 percent, which is higher than that of other multinational financial institutions. Besides Exim, Asian Development Bank and OPEC Fund for International Development have also supported the airport project in the forms of loans and grants. Understandably, there is the excitement that Pokhara is finally opening its own international airport, but there is also the anxiety of financial sustainability. Nepal will have to start paying back Exim from March 2023. To date, there is no clarity as to how the loan will be repaid. The main sources of income are landing charge and rentals. But the expected revenue will be insufficient to repay the loan. Anup Raj Joshi, the airport spokesperson, says they plan to raise flight numbers—both international and domestic—and include night flights to generate revenue. Officials expect to earn Rs 250m from domestic flights alone. But this is just a projection and it remains to be translated into reality. And even if the airport did make the projected turnover, it will be only enough to cover the maintenance and operation costs. There will be other additional expenses as well. Sabin Phuyal, senior accounts officer of the airport, says the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) would cover those expenses. So far, Himalaya Airlines of China and Jazeera Airways of Kuwait are the only international carriers that have agreed to launch flights to and from Pokhara. No other international airlines have signed formal agreements to connect their flights with Pokhara Regional International Airport. Jagannath Niraula, CAAN spokesperson, says they are hopeful more international airlines will sign agreements once the airport is up and running. He believes that Pokhara airport is more viable than two other international airports of Nepal. Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport is the oldest and the busiest airport in Nepal. The second, Bhairahawa’s Gautam Buddha International Airport, which launched its international flight services in May, is struggling to attract both flights and passengers. There is a clear lack of inter-agency coordination and communication on how to increase the number of flights in the new airport. The city’s tourism potential is the key to the success of the airport but throughout the airport development project, the local tourism council has largely stood on the margins. Pom Narayan Shrestha, chairman of Pokhara Tourism Council, says they have more recently participated in interactions with CAAN, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and other concerned bodies in regards to the launch ceremony of the airport. If the airport and CAAN officials are willing, he says they are ready to make contributions from their side. Krishna Acharya, a local tour operator, says they have not received any call for support from concerned authorities. Annapurna Conservation Area attracts a great number of foreign trekkers every year. Pokhara is the main starting point for travelers visiting the area, but the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), which looks after the overall aspects of this protected area, does not know what is going on with the airport. Raj Kumar Gurung, who heads the Pokhara office of ACAP, says they are rarely invited to the meetings concerning the airport development. Kashi Raj Bhandari, director of NTB Gandaki Province Office, admits they could not promote the airport from the tourism development aspect as well as they would have liked. Still, he is optimistic about more international airlines connecting their flights to Pokhara in the near future.  In order to promote international flights and bring in more tourists, he says NTB Gandaki Province Office and CAAN are already in talks with almost a dozen international airlines. Not everyone shares Bhandari’s optimism of Pokhara international airport becoming a success, at least not in the short term. It is going to be a long haul journey to success.