As soon as the word Pokhara comes to mind, the words of poet Mukundasharan Upadhyay's poem come to mind.No earth is full of all divine beautyBut Pokhara is full of beauty.

Pokhara is as complete a city as he wrote in his poem. Along with the natural beauty here, the man-made structures have also made Pokhara equally beautiful.

The beauty of Pokhareli has been described by the Japanese monk Kawaguchi in a more beautiful way. He compared Pokhara to heaven in the book 'Three Years in Tibet' written after traveling through Pokhara in 1899. He says, "During my trip, I saw a sight that enticed me in Pokhara, I have never seen such a heavenly sight anywhere else."

Pokhara's formal tourism is not particularly complete. From the time when tourists came to Pokhara, they enjoyed carefree and that continues till today. The tourism of Pokhara, which started around 1955 with the wanderings of Akaljukal hippies, has spread all over the world today.

French citizen Maurice Herzog played the most important role in making Pokhara world famous. Third world tourists flocked to Pokhara following the book named 'The Annapurna' written by Herzog in 1950 after successfully climbing the Annapurna Himal.

It is no exaggeration that the 'gate way' of Pokhara's tourism is the book called The Annapurna. The unique data of tourists visiting Pokhara is not found anywhere. In 1995, 3 lakh 63 thousand 395 tourists visited Nepal and there is official data.

After 30 years in 2024, the number has increased to 11 lakh 46 thousand 24 . It is unofficially estimated that 40 percent of the tourists who come to Nepal visit Pokhara. If we believe in the same data, in 2024, about 500,000 foreign tourists have visited Pokhara.

Shrinking Trekking

Trekking tourism, which grew out of Maurice Herzog's mountain climbing, has been shriveled by our carelessly added infrastructure . Round Annapurna trek, which involves walking for at least 21 days, can be completed in 3-4 days if you hurry. The main reason for this is the road leading to the footpath. This situation would not have happened if the road could have been constructed from an alternative place of the footpath.

Along with Annapurna, even in Manaslu region, now the motor road has reached to the base of the mountain, let's say to the lap of the mountain. As a result, the footpath is not only narrowing, but the rate of tourists is also decreasing. If we are not able to connect the tourists who come for trekking through alternative routes, our tourism will crash soon.

Let's add a destination

According to a study conducted by the Pokhara office of Rashtra Bank, the average stay of foreign tourists visiting Gandaki Province is 12 days. They spend 8,355 rupees 29 paisa (US$ 62.89) daily. Last financial year, tourists from 41 different countries of the world came to Gandaki province. Most of them are tourists from India, France, America, UK and Australia. It's a happy thing .

Another happy thing is that among the foreign tourists who come to Gandaki, the age group of 31 to 45 years is the most, i.e. 33 percent . Those who have the power to spend a lot of money. Their preferred area is adventure activities. What we need to know now is to add adventure activities, launch new products targeting tourists.

The last built Pumdikot Mahadev Murti is the latest tourist destination of Pokhara. Thousands of domestic and foreign tourists arrive here daily. Mountain Bungee Jump is another such exemplary destination. As an example, tourists prefer new destinations.

Last year, the provincial government declared Pokhara as the capital of tourism, it is a happy thing . But the data of last year and current tourists confirm that declaring the capital will not increase the number of tourists. We rush to announce, do not make necessary preparations .

What kind of infrastructure should be added after announcing the capital? What should be increased investment? Do we have a plan? What is a citizen to do? What should the private sector do? What will the state do? A clear blueprint has not been made yet. Pokhara is not only happy with the words that it is beautiful, but if it is really beautiful, you should be able to present the evidence .

Let's be sensitive to the climate

Tourists see the atmosphere in Pokhara and especially in Gandaki. It is a mountain, it is a lake. Natural resources are . But due to the effect of climate change, our mountains are turning into black stone. It's sad . We alone do not have the ability to mitigate climate change.

If the attention of the world community is to be drawn to the virgin mountain fish tail formed by melting snow, it is probably not necessary to wander around looking for tourists. Just for example, the fishtail is added, all the mountains that our eyes can see now have more black parts than white . Adapting to climate change, it is inevitable that we should change our behaviors. It is necessary to lobby about this from home to parliament.

Let's rise above tradition

In 1996, a study conducted by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Pokhara Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed that, based on the description of the tourists who returned from Pokhara, the highest number of tourists came to Pokhara . In a research paper on Pokhara tourism in 2017, it is mentioned that 52 percent of tourists come based on the verbal description. Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) also studied it. According to the study, it has been shown that the oral description made by friends has become an effective means of tourism promotion .

Tourism, which was initially promoted by face-to-face, has been connected to the media and the Internet only after 1990. According to a study, 162 tourists came to Pokhara for sightseeing and entertainment in 1957. Their description also became a sure way for tourists entering Pokhara. But this is not the only way Pokhara's tourism is going to take off. We have to find new means of promotion and publicity.

Security of investment

Pokhara and Gandaki have more than 7 billion investment in the tourism sector . About 75 thousand people are said to have got direct employment from tourism. Now the shutters have been put on the hotels in Pokhara, the capital of tourism and its main place, Lakeside. Boards like 'for rent', 'for sale' can be seen a lot on the shutters. 

These scenes send the message that investment in tourism is not safe. The state should be responsible to ensure that investors get returns along with the security of their investment . Prosperity is possible if tourists who are concentrated only on the shores of Phewa can be spontaneously expanded to other places by rising from the belief that tourism is lakeside and lakeside is only tourism. Otherwise, there is no doubt that major tourist destinations will be locked within a few years.

Now it's time to think, citizens and overall leadership . Let's not delay . In the end, the most important aspect for the development of tourism in Pokhara is connectivity . Roads like Prithvi Highway, Siddharth Highway, Kaligandaki Corridor should be upgraded soon. The initiative of the state should reach international flights from Pokhara along with the capitals and major cities of all provinces. The state should guarantee safe air travel.