Impact Of Low-Cost Airlines In Nepal Tourism

Nepal Tourism Industry Analysis

The development of the tourism industry of most countries can be directly correlated with airline services. The significance of low-cost airline transport in the tourism industry can be justified through various means but out of most research done in most famous countries, airline transportation carries about 90% of the total tourist population. With this in mind, the cost of the airline can be characterized to have a direct impact on the choice of destination and price of tourism products (Page, 2014). The aspect of reducing cost is another broad issue which is analyzed as the capability of the aviation industry to continuously improve in technology and infrastructure.

This paper will focus on analyzing the impact of low-cost airlines in Nepal tourism industry. The main airport focus will analyze Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. Nepal transport system is considered to be highly dependent on air transport in order to successfully maximize its economic potential output. On the other hand, improvement of air transportation around and out of Nepal, the tourism industry has also gained a significant position in Nepal economy sustainability (Sharpley & Telfer, 2014). Both of the industries have been proven to be very highly correlated where each industry must be of maximum performance for the other to also continue growing.

Nepal is one of the most unique countries in South Asia with a total land of about 147,181 square kilometers. Nepal is further divided into three regions, Terai region, Mid hill region, and the Himalayan region. The country has very unique geographical features such as Mt. Everest which is worldwide renown among other seven tallest mountains in the world. Over the past few years, Nepal has continued to be voted as one greatest destination in the world due to its ability to continuously maintain its attractiveness to visitors (Sarker, Hossan, & Zaman, 2012). Majorly some of the famous activities in Nepal tourism include mountain climbing and rock climbing, hot-air expanding over the Himalaya mountains, bungee jumping, investigating the channels by raft, biking, kayak and wilderness safaris in Terai districts, ultra-light flying machine flights, mountain flights, and trekking in various uneven and bumpy locale of Nepal. In general, the larger percentage of Nepal tourism industry has been majorly based on mountaineering where tourists visiting Nepal are often described with a basic idea of experimenting and/or accomplishing their desires in heights and nature (Song, Dwyer, Li, & Cao, 2012).

Culture and to be a specific religion, is also a significant part of Nepal tourism product. One of the basic reason behind this specific aspect is the unique strategic point of Nepal between China and India. Nepal has a long historical backgrounds of two religions i.e. Buddhist and Hindus which one of the commonly practiced religions. Due to this Nepal holds numerous destinations and sanctuaries of various gods and goddesses which today are considered as scared destinations of both Buddhist and Hindu religions (Leslie, 2010). Some of the scared destinations found in Nepal include the monkey sanctuary, Swayambhunath, and Muktinath valley which are both very important for the two religions. The Capital Kathmandu sanctuary in Nepal is also one of the most highly visited places in the world due to its beautiful displays of craftsmanship and a significant accumulation of archaeological evidence. It has ranked as one of the seven out of ten UNESCO heritage centers in the world (Sarker et al., 2012).

Nepal Low-Cost Airline Transportation

Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) is one of the oldest and largest airports in Nepal. The airport has been in existence in over 50 years where over the years it has continued to grow and expands in its routes operation. Apart from Tribhuvan International Airport, Nepal has other 56 airports making air transportation of Nepal one of the busiest mode transport.  In the approach of increasing its relation in the air industry, Nepal has signed with more than 40 countries a bilateral agreement and memorandum of understanding which is aimed to strengthen the economic relation of the countries (Stabler, Papatheodorou, & Sinclair, 2009). The idea of maximizing the relationship created by the agreement has been majorly perceived in the airline industry sector of Nepal. The country has continued to embrace the approach of low-cost flights between the countries. Both the airline and tourism industry of Nepal has widely benefited each other through various different ways. The growth of Tribhuvan International Airport has also been perceived in various forms where it has improved in its capability to hold the increasing number of passenger and destination in and out of Nepal (Sharpley & Telfer, 2015).

The high increase in low-cost air transportation demand has been attributed to the fact that Nepal is a landlocked country and mountain/ridges landscape. Due to this, the embracement of air transport in the country has been highly achieved even by the local people. According to the types of tourism products available in Nepal, air transportation is characterized as a very vital feature which must be highly sustained (Mowforth & Munt, 2015). With this, air transportation in Nepal has managed to significantly expand and regulate its transportation cost where the outcome of the policy has gained large success in terms of increase passengers i.e. including tourists.

It has been recorded that 80% of the tourist who arrives in Nepal every year opt to use flights as a means of transportation. Also, the majority of the tourist destination reported annually in Tribhuvan International Airport comprises of China and India from Asia and Germany and the United Kingdom in Europe (Miller, Rathouse, Scarles, Holmes, & Tribe, 2010). With the occurring development projects in Nepal aviation industry, the growth of tourist visitors has continued to also increase in terms of tourist population. The current statistics projection of Nepal tourism industry is to continue to promote the campaign of attracting five million new tourists in the country. In the approach of meeting the expected demand growth in the aviation industry, Nepal government has also started construction projects such as the new Gautama Buddha Airport in Bhairahawa and building of new phases in Tribhuvan International Airport. Through the completion of the campaign by 2030, the tourism industry in Nepal will be considered as the main pillar of the country economy (Sharma, 2012).

The landscape of Nepal is another significant issue which air transportation has helped to impact positively in the tourism industry. Through low-cost airline transportation in Nepal, domestic tourism has continued to improve and embraced among local people most in the urban areas and regions (Bernier, 2010). This has marked air transport as one of the most important sectors in Nepal economy where in order for a local passenger to be able to move point one to another air transportation in the country regions plays a very vital role in the transport industry. This has led to other tourism products, such as skydiving, hiking, mountain climbing, and others, gaining more popularity in the country. Another important role the aviation industry has impacted on the tourism industry is the issue of tourism marketing where through the increase of people moving inside or outside the country has offered tourism industry the best platform for exposure and direct marketing (Vellas, 2016).

The Impact of Low-Cost Airlines in Tourism Development

The continuous increase in the number of visitors in Nepal has significantly contributed to a tremendous change in Nepal aviation industry. One of the basic recommendation of change that the Nepal government has chosen to solve as fast as possible is the increase in demand for a new international airport. The cause of this sudden increase in demand has led by the continuous increase in the number of passengers visiting Nepal whereas per last year report there was an increase of about 1 million foreign tourists. This has led to a sudden increase in capacity demand which has led to a sudden demand for service at Tribhuvan International Airport. The number of destinations in the airport is considered to be overwhelming thus also to the sudden need for airport expansion. The approach of low-cost airlines has also led to significant development of various airports in Nepal making air transport one of the most convenient means of transportation in the country (Regmi, 2009).

Some of the government approaches to meeting the increasing demand for air transportation include the development of the new international airport in Nijgadh, completing the Gautam Buddha Airport project, and the expansion of Tribhuvan International Airport. The expansion Tribhuvan International Airport is set to reflect the new image in the airport industry with improved standards that can hold larger planes and increased capacity. The other important focus that the issue of low-cost airlines is that Nepal price cost is still considerably much higher and in order to maintain the increase in activities and tourist number, Nepal government must strategize on means reducing air transport much lower (Song et al., 2012). However, Nepal government with the support of international agencies has been able to meet the increasing demand stating that through strategized projects Nepal will be able to handle an increase of 15 million passengers every year by 2020.

Through the analysis of various research report, low-cost airlines have a significant contribution to sustainable tourism. As a matter of considering the decision making of low-cost fares is reached by consideration of a number of factors which include fuel cost per seat, seat configuration and load factor, environmental factors, airport infrastructure and technology, aircraft efficiency, and many other factors (Page, 2014). Through the continuous trends and changes in the transport industry, the government of Nepal should focus on integrating the entire aviation industry with more efficient infrastructure and technology. In line with tourism development, the airport management should implement more ‘greener’ approaches in the airport operation. The issue of carbon gas emission is one major topic which should be well handled for the future sustainability of both industries. According to the review of customer preference, the issue of sustainability is becoming a sensitive topic where about 15% of the passengers chose the airline carriers through sustainability perspective (Horner & Swarbrooke, 2016).

The other future focus of the low-cost airlines in Nepal is the promotion of shorter distances. The operation air transport inside the country should be encouraged through the introduction of narrow-body aircraft in the regional destinations. The introduction of the narrow-body aircraft will be able to help to reduce the cost of flights which is a vital factor to be considered while promotion domestic airline transport (Mann, 2014). With the decrease of flight ‘fare’, the increase daily flights in almost all major destinations will be expected to increase significantly where it’s estimated that 70% of the total passengers will opt to use air transportation as more effective means of transportation in Nepal. The government of Nepal should also emphasize more focus in less popular regions by forming joined efforts in planning and strategizing the development of a new network that will promote both low-cost air transportation and tourism sustainability (Burghouwt, de Wit, Veldhuis, & Matsumoto, 2009). With effective planning and development implementation, the future of low-cost airlines and the tourism industry in Nepal can be described as very promising.

Conclusion

In summary, the low-cost carriers have gained a significant success in brand awareness in Nepal which has helped to boost the tourism industry. The low-cost carriers should focus on developing a more integrated pricing strategy where airlines should seek means of curbing the cost difference between business visits and tourism leisure’s. The stimuli of the low-cost airlines and tourism sector should also be focused on opening new domestic routes thus provide new flights that are more effective and direct. The government of Nepal should also increase its efforts in strengthening the standards of Tribhuvan international airport. Through the increasing number of people moving in and out of Nepal, a lot significant changes have continued to occur in Nepal economy (Song et al., 2012). One of the significant features is the correlation of dependence of the two industries where through the approach of low-cost carriers, Nepal has been to attract more tourist visitors in the country. This has also been witnessed in domestic tourism where also a significant growth in aviation industry has continued to occur in the country (Mann, 2014).

References

Bernier, X. (2010). Regional airports and the accessibility of mountain areas: networks, importance, and contribution to development.

Burghouwt, G., de Wit, J., Veldhuis, J., & Matsumoto, H. (2009). Air network performance and hub competitive position: Evaluation of primary airports in East and South-East Asia. Journal of Airport Management, 3(4), 384-400.

Horner, S., & Swarbrooke, J. (2016). Consumer behavior in tourism. Routledge.

Leslie, D. (Ed.). (2010). Tourism enterprises and sustainable development: international perspectives on responses to the sustainability agenda. Routledge.

Mann, M. (2014). The community tourism guide: Exciting holidays for responsible travelers. Routledge.

Miller, G., Rathouse, K., Scarles, C., Holmes, K., & Tribe, J. (2010). Public understanding of sustainable tourism. Annals of tourism research, 37(3), 627-645.

Mowforth, M., & Munt, I. (2015). Tourism and sustainability: Development, globalization and new tourism in the third world. Routledge.

Page, S. J. (2014). Tourism management. Routledge.

Regmi, U. K. (2009). Relationship between air transport and tourism: a case study of Nepal (Master’s thesis, Høgskolen I Molde).

Sarker, M. A. R., Hossan, C. G., & Zaman, L. (2012). Sustainability and growth of low-cost airlines: an industry analysis from a global perspective. American Journal of Business and Management, 1(3), 162-171.

Sharma, P. (2012). Tourism in Nepal 2030. Nepal, 2030, 73-92.

Sharpley, R., & Telfer, D. J. (2015). Tourism and development in the developing world. Routledge.

Sharpley, R., & Telfer, D. J. (Eds.). (2014). Tourism and development: concepts and issues (Vol. 63). Channel View Publications.

Song, H., Dwyer, L., Li, G., & Cao, Z. (2012). Tourism economics research: A review and assessment. Annals of tourism research, 39(3), 1653-1682.

Stabler, M. J., Papatheodorou, A., & Sinclair, M. T. (2009). The economics of tourism. Routledge.

Vellas, F. (2016). The international marketing of travel and tourism: A strategic approach. Macmillan International Higher Education.