Wanderlust Travel Magazine (UK)
How to travel more consciously in… Nepal
The spring season was barely underway when COVID-19 entered the scene, and lockdown was imposed. At time of press, Nepal remains closed to international tourists, and changing guidelines, rise in infection rates, European quarantines and general uncertainty will certainly affect the rest of the season. The repercussions are huge in a nation where tourism is one of the biggest employers – hundreds of thousands of people lost their income as guides, drivers, porters, hoteliers, restaurant owners and street vendors.
And, as Raj Gyawali, responsible tourism expert, founder of socialtours (socialtours.com) in Nepal and part of Norwaybased Ethical Travel Portal (ethicaltravelportal.com), says, “It doesn’t help that countries like Nepal lack strong government cover to support and protect industries, so they’re left to cope on their own. We’re in a situation where tourism providers are desperate for business to come back, while mountain communities not involved in tourism don’t want it back before the virus threat is over.”
In the meantime, a vision for ‘better’ tourism is underway with several professionals setting up better protocols for mountain tourism. “Tourism happened organically in Nepal without much planning,” says Raj, “The pandemic is giving us a fighting chance to forge a better relationship between industry, communities, travellers and locals. If we can really reimagine it, it might even be regenerative, where tourism leaves more of a positive impact than a negative one.” With adventure travel often the first to resume, Nepal, thanks to a little something called the Himalaya, may well benefit from a swifter resurgence while travellers enjoy crowd-free treks, a stark contrast to recent images of queues around Everest. But how can travellers play their part when they do go? Raj suggests visitors learn more about the destinations they’re visiting – not just from a “Is it safe?” perspective, but about the communities they’ll encounter and why they want to travel there.
“Be inquisitive and learn more about the positive impacts you can make,” he says. “Travel with deeper immersions that respect the local culture and intelligence. Use this knowledge to uplift oneself, build lasting connections and not just travel for the sake of ticking a bucket list. All this builds resilience via respect, tilting the balance in the relationship beyond just pure economics to something more meaningful and lasting.”