Tourism is the largest industry in Nepal and its largest source of foreign exchange and revenue. In other word we can say tourism as lifeblood of Nepalese society. Possessing eight of the ten highest mountains in the world, Nepal is a hotspot destination for mountaineers, rock climbers and people seeking adventure. Everybody who are looking for some adventure on the coming vacation Nepal will be a great destination. The rich Nepalese culture, spiritual environment, rural villages, beautiful cities, rich wildlife and shinning mountains are the tourism assets of Nepal. Nepal is always working and improving from different aspects so that it can make Nepal a hub for foreign tourists. In Nepal, they have a culture from ages that is considering guest or tourist as a god. So, tourism in Nepal has been in spotlight from years. Today not everyone but most of the people in the world consider Nepal as one of the very friendly country for tourism. The Hindu and Buddhist heritage of Nepal and its cool weather are also strong attractions.^[1]

Overview

Himalaya and Mount Everest as seen from space. Nepal has 8 of the 10 highest mountains in the world.

Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak in the world, is located in Nepal. Mountaineering and other types of adventure tourism and ecotourism are important attractions for visitors. As well as Nepal is well known throughout the world for  cultural tourism, spiritual tourism, village tourism and sport tourism. The world heritage site Lumbini, birthplace of Gautama Buddha, is located in the south of the West region of Nepal (which despite the name is located in the centre of the country) and there are other important religious pilgrimage sites throughout the country. Every year millions of Buddhists tourist come to Nepal to visit the birthplace of Gautam Buddha.  Not only Nepal has a beautiful destinations for tourism, the pleasant climate and the welcoming nature is also a component by which Nepal is known at different part of the world. According to the USA TODAY, Nepal’s mountains and rivers offers unlimited opportunity of adventure activites. In 2016 only the tourism industry directly supported 427,000 jobs which is 2.9 percent of the total employment of the country. In 2027, the jobs by tourism industry is expected to reach by 1,325,000 according to the Nepal Tourism Bosard data. SO, tourism in Nepal is considered as a backbone for the Nepali economy. .

Different Aspects of Tourism at Nepal

The different aspects of tourism that can be found in Nepal are listed below:

• Cultural Tourism
• Spiritual Tourism
• Himalaya Tourism’
• Adventure Tourism
• Natural Tourism
• Sport Tourism
• Agriculture Tourism
• Hospitality Tourism

Cultural Tourism

Nepal is very rich, and its culture is unique at the same time. There are 125 ethical groups, and the language they speak are 123. In the small are of 147,181 square kilometer which is very tiny, people follow ten different religions. The diversity, the custom and tradition of Nepalese people separates it from the rest of the world and puts itself in very dynamic position. Another way to calculate the richness in Nepal Culture is the festivals they celebrate. Many tourists from all over the world come to witness the unique festival in Nepal. The festival of color Holi, the festival of marijuana known as Shivaratri are few festivals which attracts hundreds of thousands and tourists every year. This kind of festival makes the stay in Nepal more joyful and it had a power to attract more tourist and strength the Cultural Tourism in Nepal every year.

Spiritual Tourism

Spiritual tourism is one of the ingredient which attracts millions of tourists at Nepal every year. Nepal is the land of Hindu Religion. The temple “ Pashupatinath” is located at the capital of Nepal which is one of the popular destination for Hindus throughout the world. The city of Kathmandu is also known as city of temples. It got thousands of temples which attracts many tourist from all parts of the world. As well as there are so many pilgrim sites at Nepal like Lumbini, Muktinath, Gosainkunda, Janakpur.

Village and City Tourism

Nepal is known as the country of villages. There are so many villages and the lifestyle is very typical. Even though the technology and life style is advanced these days, the typical village life of Nepal is something that people does not see often. The plouging of land by ox, typical houses, homestay at villages, local food are the attraction by which village tourism had grown these days. Beside villages, the popular city like Pokhara, Kathmandu, Lumbini, Bhaktapur are very famous tourist destination. There are so many historic sites which can be found mesmerizing in Nepal.

Mountain Tourism

In Nepal there is eight of the tallest mountain among top ten of the world. In Nepal the world’s most, spectacular mountain can be found. It is challenging but worthy. There are 14 peaks in Nepal which height are more than 8000 m height. There is great trekking and hiking spots around these peaks. If managed properly this can generate the great income in Nepal. To climb the highest peak or mountain in the world Mount Everest, every year so many people come to Nepal from all part of the world. The Mountain flight is one of the popular activates which can be done in Nepal. Beside that travelling to the base camp of the different mountains is the thing many tourists enjoy at Nepal

Adventure Tourism

Nepal is very popular destination for the Adventure. Beside mountains and high peaks, many adventure activates can be done in Nepal. The cable car travel in the Mukti Nath Temple is very adventurerhino. Bungee jump at the Bhotekoski river, boating, fishing, rafting, paragliding are the few adventures which can be done in Nepal. Beside this, wildlife hunting is also an adventure which can be done in Nepal.

Natural Tourism

Nepal is rich in natural beauty, the mountain, lakes, rivers, forests and wildlife makes Nepal complete. Many people come to Nepal to see different wild animals in the National parks. Tiger, one horned rhino can be seen at different National parks. In the jungle of Nepal various wildlife like tiger, , snow leopard, red panda and musk deer can be found. There are more than 850 species of bird at Nepal. The rich nature is also one of the important aspect of tourism in Nepal.

Sport Tourism

Nepal is famous destination for playing golf. The very luxury golf courses with the view of mountain makes is popular destination for golfing. Beside this rock climbing, rafting, kayaking, mountain biking are the various sports that can be done in Nepal. Elephant polo is played only in the country Nepal. The rafting in Nepalese river is very with the great natural view is very tremendous.

Agriculture Tourism

Being the agricultural country Nepal had very potential on the Agriculture tourism. Eighty percent of the total population of Nepal depends upon agriculture, The different kinds of herbs and plants found in Nepal attracts many people. The agriculture technique used by village people in Nepal is very primitive in this modern world. Every year many people throughout the world come to witness it. Beside agriculture the come to try the local food and local culture at Nepal.

Hospitality Tourism

The hospitality of Nepal is liked by almost all people who visit Nepal. The innocent of the Nepal and the concept of treating guest or tourist as God make Nepal to have very potential at Hospitality tourism, there are so many luxury hotels and destination as well as people can home stay and enjoy local food and culture. The generous hospitality of Nepal took attention of all the visitors and made them compel to come back Nepal again.

Statistics

Tourism in Nepal was badly affected, at least temporarily, by the series of earthquakes in 2015. But Now it is recovering up and so many investments to attract tourist can be seen everyday at Nepal. Prince Harry from Britain visited Nepal at 2016 to send message to the world that Nepal is recovering from devastating earthquake and we should love Nepal by visiting it and sharing hands to rebuilt Nepal.

In 2017-, the number of international tourists visiting Nepal was 940,218 , which was an increase of 24.8 compared to the previous year. Nepal Tourism Policy 2009 identify tourism as one of the important key or backbone for economic development at Nepal. So, so many plan and policies are formulated to attract tourists every year. Expansion of employment opportunities and to improve living standard of Nepalese people Nepal has formulated Vision 2020 to make the 1 million employment from tourism industry.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Nepal