An increasing number of traders have been going to Jiri to procure potatoes prompted by rising demand in Kathmandu. Most of the farmers here have kept stocks of fresh potatoes in anticipation of buyers with businesses in Kathmandu.
Sita Jirel, a farmer, said that they had been approached by traders who buy potatoes and dispatch them to the Kalimati vegetable market in Kathmandu.
Farmers start collecting and storing potatoes at Varanda from mid-June. Almost every household in Besiswara village have been storing potatoes at their homes. Saila Tamang, a trader who arrived in Jiri to purchase potatoes, said that demand for potatoes from Jiri is so great that they are sold out in no time.
According to Sita, the potatoes produced in Jiri are very tasty probably because of the high altitude. “They cook in a short time and become soft,” she added. Sita has sold 2,000 kg of potatoes so far.
Likewise, another farmer Shova Jirel said that they could have sold all their output but production was lower compared to last year. Both white and red potatoes are produced here.
Red potatoes are considered to be good for mixing with other vegetables. Tamang said that demand for red potatoes was comparatively high. Farmers are selling potatoes at Rs 22 per kg. However, they are unaware of its price in Kathmandu.
Tamang said that they take potatoes from Jiri to sell them at the wholesale market in Kathmandu. Around 100 tons of potatoes were sold outside Jiri during the two month period of June-July.
District Agriculture Office chief Yubaraj Pandey said that potato production had decreased due to the late arrival of the monsoon this year.
“Mid-May is the time when potatoes are formed in the roots. So rainfall is expected during this period. Since, there was no rain, production fell,” he said. Farmers from other places like Shailung, Gairimudi and Kalinchok have also complained that they couldn’t produce potatoes adequately this time.

Naturally Nepal once is not enough.

Tourists making repeat visits to Nepal in 2009 made up almost half of the total arrivals giving credence to the travel trade’s advertising slogan “Naturally Nepal — Once Is Not Enough”.
According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), among the 509,956 tourists who visited Nepal last year, 158,153 were making their second visit, 7,858 were here for the third time, 7,426 for the fourth and 18,256 for the fifth or more times. Tourists visiting the country for the first time numbered 318,263. Although past records are not available, NTB officials and travel trade entrepreneurs said that the number of tourists making repeat visits had gone up. “This shows that tourists want to come to Nepal again and again, but negative publicity has forced them to think twice about their travel plans,” they said. Aditya Baral, senior director and spokesperson of the NTB, said it was encouraging that repeat visits to Nepal were increasing. “Repeat visits make the tourism sector sustainable in any country,” he said. Repeat visitors usually spend less according to international trends, but that is not the case in Nepal, he added. Indian sent the highest number of first-time and repeat visitors to Nepal. Among the 93,884 travellers from India, 54,120 were here for the first time while the rest were repeat visitors. Cultural ties, pilgrimage options and better air connectivity are the major reasons behind the large number of repeat visitors from India, Baral said. The US, the UK, France, China and Spain are among the other countries sending repeat visitors to Nepal after India. Abhinav Rana, general manager of the Radisson Hotel, said that the hotel had more repeat corporate clients in 2009 compared to the previous year. Despite political instability and weak performance of the national flag carrier, the number of repeat visitors has swelled, said Ram Kazi Koney, managing director of Gandaki Tours & Travels and past president of the Nepal Association of Travel and Tour Agents (NATTA). He added that it was a good indication that the country’s tourism sector could flourish instantly if the political situation becomes stable

Indian and Chinese tourists have lowest length of stay

Nepal received the highest number of tourists from India and China, but their length of stay is the lowest among all the source markets. According to the Tourism Ministry, visitors from the two neighbouring countries spent 7.99 and 10.14 days respectively in Nepal in 2011. The length of stay of Indian tourists is the lowest among the source markets. Chinese visitors are the third shortest stayers. The average length of stay of Indian tourists recorded a drop from 10.10 days in 2010. Similarly, the length of stay of Chinese tourists was down from 15.38 in 2010. Sri Lankan visitors stayed an average of 10.08 days in Nepal to take the spot between Indians and Chinese. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka sent the third largest number of tourists to Nepal in 2011. Nepal received 154,735 Indian, 75,631 Chinese and 69,241 Sri Lankan visitors last year. The three countries took the first, second and third spots respectively in arrivals last year. Finnish tourists took the top spot in length of stay, spending an average of 24.50 days in Nepal in 2011. They were followed by visitors from the US, Norway, Australia and Switzerland. Travel trade entrepreneurs said that the Indian market has been classified in the mass tourism segment so Indian visitors have a short length of stay. Their favourite places to visit are Kathmandu, Pokhara, Jomsom and Muktinath. Similarly, pilgrimage is the number one purpose of visit for Chinese and Sri Lankan tourists. Meanwhile, the average length of stay of tourists in Nepal increased to a seven-year high of 13.12 days in 2011. Travel trade analysts have attributed the record growth to a decline in strikes and increased tourist arrivals for trekking and mountaineering, particularly from the US and Europe. According to the Tourism Ministry, visitors coming for trekking and mountaineering in 2011 increased 11.7 percent against a decline of 47.2 percent in 2010. Nepal recorded the highest ever length of stay of 13.51 days in 2004.

Tara Air begians Bhojpur flight

Tara Air, a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines, on Monday conducted its maiden flight between Kathmandu and Bhojpur as part of its expansion to serve the remote sector.
According to the carrier, it will run the service in the sector every Monday, with a Tara Air plane taking off from Kathmandu at 9:20 to Bhojpur and returning at 10:25 to Kathmandu.
A 1,650 meter long runway in Bhojpur is situated at 3,962 ft above the sea level and it takes 45 minutes to reach the destination. The airfare to the sector is Rs 4,995 for Nepalis and $ 132 for the foreigners. Lalupate Travels has been appointed the general sales agents of Tara Air for the sector.

"We believe this operation will help promote tourism and ease passenger services in the sector, including cargo and food delivery," the carrier said in a statement. Tara Air operates its scheduled flights to short-haul sector like Lukla, Faflu, Lamidanda, Tumlingtar and Ramechhap from Kathmandu; Jomsom and Manang from Pokhara and Dolpa, Jumla, Bajura, Simikot, Rara from Nepalgunj and Surkhet base.

Landslide displaces three families

Three families at Bhimeshwor Municipality-6 have been displaced due to landslide coupled with heavy rainfall occurred on Monday.

Six other houses at Tamakosi bazaar are at risk of landslide.

Three families of Kamala Katawal, Nar Bahadur Khadka and Kainla Upreti at Tamakosi bazaar were displaced due to the landslide.

A four-year-old child and two other persons were rescued from the landslide. Policeman Krishna Basnet was injured while rescuing the landslide victims.

Meanwhile, the district natural disaster rescue committee and District Red Cross Society, Dolakha, have distributed relief materials to the landslide victims. The displaced families have been provided with Rs 3000 each and tents, clothes and other materials too. RSS

The numbers of the tigers on rise in Nepal

A study of tigers conducted recently has suggested the rise in the population of tigers in the country.
Altogether, there are 176 tigers in the country, an increment of 21, a program organised in the Capital to mark the Tiger Conservation Day has revealed.  The tiger census conducted on 2010 had found 155 tigers in the country.

Bardiya National Park, where the numbers of tigers was 19 two years ago, now shelters 37 tigers. Similarly, the number of tigers have also risen in Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve and reached to 10. The count has also found 125 tigers in Chitwan National Park and four in Parsa Wildlife Reserve.

Increase in tourist arrivels fails to boost trekking business

 The Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN) has said that the number of trekkers has not increased as expected despite an increase in tourist arrivals. TAAN cited inadequate marketing and inability to compete with India and China in offering tour packages for the poor performance in attracting trekkers.
Although Nepal received a greater number of tourists during Nepal Tourism Year 2011 and the arrivals momentum kept up in the first quarter of 2012, there has been no matching growth in the number of trekkers.
“The number of tourists coming for trekking has not been so good as expected compared to the total arrivals,” said Rana Bahadur Khadka, first vice-president of TAAN. He added that trekking was one of the major tourism activities in the past years but it has remained stagnant presently.
Trekking agents blamed high trekking and mountaineering fees levied by the government compared to India and China which has made trekking an expensive adventure activity. Potential trekking visitors have thus dropped their plans to visit Nepal, they said. Trekking packages in Nepal start at US$ 70 per day.
Khadka said that the country was also lacking advertising and promotion to boost the adventure segment which India and China are doing recently. “The Indian government is providing tax waivers to entrepreneurs dealing with foreign exchange in the travel trade sector.”
Meanwhile, Arjun Prasad Sharma, immediate past president of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, said that the number of trekkers has not dropped but has remained stagnant. “Increased options in leisure and other segments have affected the share of trekking in tourist activities,” Sharma said.
He added that Nepal had become a year-round destination for all activities due to improved peace and that the number of leisure and pilgrimage visitors had been growing. The number of tourists coming for leisure activities is shown by Indian and Chinese arrivals last year. “Visitors from both these countries are counted under leisure activities.” 
TAAN said that spending by trekkers had also decreased along with their falling  numbers. Normally, the length of stay of trekkers is 15 days.
According to a preliminary study of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, arrivals reached an all-time high of 735,965 in 2011, but average daily spending dropped to US$ 39.90 last year from US$ 43.20 in 2010. Government statistics show that average spending has been dropping since 2008. If foreign visitors spent US$ 73.00 per day in 2008, they spent US$ 65.30 in 2009 and US$ 43.20 in 2010.
Trekking in Nepal is an all-season activity. It is possible at any time of the year depending on where one goes. However, the most popular seasons are spring (February-May) and autumn (September-November)