Nepal

Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme - TRPAP

Background

With the concept of poverty alleviation, through sustainable tourism, Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme (TRPAP) was launched in September 2001 by the Government of Nepal- Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation with the technical and financial assistance from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/Nepal, Department for International Development (DFID)/ Nepal and SNV/Nepal. The Project has been designed to be handed over to Nepal Tourism Board after phasing out, with the establishment of Sustainable Tourism Development Unit (STDU) in the Board. The programme is operating in six pilot sites of Nepal (Taplejung, Solukhumbu, Rasuwa, Chitwan, Rupandehi and Dolpa). The Programme has covered altogether 48 Village Development Committees (VDCs).

Programme Approach

The Programme, which is focused on developing sustainable rural tourism (that is pro-poor, pro-women, pro-environment and pro-community), has taken partnership approach with multiple stakeholders at all levels (such as community interests, local government and the national tourism organisation) to work together towards agreed common goals. At the local level the programme forms Community Organizations (COs) and Functional Groups (FGs) for the establishment of backward linkages through tourism development, with special emphasis on Special Target Groups (STG) and women through capacity enhancement and resource mobilisation from Venture Capital Fund (VCF).

At the Village Development Committee (VDC) level, the programme has established Sustainable Tourism Development Committee (STDC) to co-ordinate with the COs and FGs formed within the VDC, establishing a vertical linkage with the Sustainable Tourism Development Section (STDS) formed at the district level (DDC).

Activities

Several trainings have been given to men, women, poor and special target groups on tourism enterprise development, training of trainers (ToT), trekking guide, management capacity enhancement, food and beverage service, cooking and baking, sustainable rural tourism development, financial management, front office & English language and biodiversity & conservation trainings.

The project has given Tourism Infrastructure Development Fund (TIDF) to community to construct micro-infrastructures like trails, bridges, drinking water, waste management, community lodges, campsite development, improved cooking stoves, biogas construction, construction of visitor information centres, museums, public toilets, irrigation, traditional water mills, monastery maintenance, micro hydro, signposts, incinerators, etc along the tourist trails.

TRPAP has also provided credit facilities (VCF) to economically disadvantaged groups, to start tourism-related micro enterprises. Many of local entrepreneurs have availed of such facility and started successful enterprises such as small hotels and lodges, home stays, tea shops, retail shops, hot shower centres, poultry farming, vegetable farming, camp sites, medical shops, weaving & tailoring, etc.

During 2004-05, TRPAP conducted familiarization trips to its pilot project sites as a part of its promotional campaign and to elicit feedback and suggestions from the travel trade industry and the media.

Earlier in September 2004, TRPAP in coordination with NTB had launched the newly developed rural tourism products amidst grand celebrations amongst the majority of the Nepali travel trade authorities and industry.

Achievements

Major achievements made by the project so far can be categorized into community empowerment through human resource development and small-scale tourism infrastructure development in one hand; and development of tourism related policies, plans, guidelines and strategies, site-specific tourism models; and, finally product development and marketing on the other hand.

1. Community Empowerment:

The project has extensively used social mobilization technique for community empowerment supplemented by tools like Tourism and Environment Awareness Programs (TEAP), Appreciative Participatory Planning and Action (APPA) and Development Wheel for establishing baseline; community level planning, implementation and monitoring. Human resource development has been high priority for developing local entrepreneurial capacity to benefit from tourism.  Till September 2006, a total of Rs. 10.9 million has been given as Venture Capital Fund (VCF) to start/ expand 653 (241 female-led, 412 male-led) tourism micro enterprises, encompassing over 4,000 local people.

2. Model Development - New Tourism Products in the Rural Areas

TRPAP has identified and developed new tourism products in all the programme areas. The products have been developed in close consultation with district level stakeholders and private sector such as Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN), Nepal Association of Tour & Travel Agents (NATTA) and Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO). The main tourism products/ models developed are: Limbu Cultural Trail and Pathibhara Pilgrimage Trail in Taplejung; Dhudkunda & Pikey Cultural Trail in Lower Solukhumbu, Eco-tourism Village in Phortse- Khumbu region/ Sagarmatha National Park, Chitwan Chepang Hills Trail in Chitwan, Lumbini Buddhist Circuit Tour in Rupandehi, Tamang Heritage Trail and Home Stay Tourism in Rasuwa, and Dolpo Experience Circuit Trail in Dolpa. The ownership of the products has been institutionalized within the local governance system and further institutional supporting mechanisms have been created.

3. Policies, Plans, Guidelines, Studies and Reviews

The Pro-poor Tourism Policy and the National Strategic Plan (2005-2009) have been prepared for the first time in Nepal. The Pro Poor Tourism Policy document will support planning and implementation of pro poor tourism activities in Nepal, whereas Tourism Strategic Plan will guide policy makers and the tourism industry of Nepal to consolidate the strengths, increase quality visibility and focus on primary markets. In addition to this, TRPAP has supported the government to identify policy gaps in tourism sector of Nepal and suggested a framework to be incorporated into revised tourism policy and related acts and regulations. A 15-year Tourism Marketing Strategic Plan (2005-2020), has also been prepared in extensive consultation with Ministry of Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation (MoCTCA), private sector, NTB and related stakeholders to be used for the promotion of sustainable tourism development in Nepal over the next 15 years. NTB has been implementing this Plan since 2005.

TRPAP has prepared District Tourism Development and Management Plan (DTDMP), for all the 6 districts. The 5-year plans will guide development and management of nature and culture based tourism potentials in the districts. Similarly, the project has prepared Tourism and Management Plan for Sagarmatha National Park, the World Heritage Site. The plan has ensured the rights and responsibilities of the buffer zone communities, private sector and government agencies in further development of the area by safeguarding the conservation values therein. As a part of the propelling the tourism industry to a more sustainable front, TRPAP has also published a 15- year sustainable tourism marketing strategy in extensive consultation with NTB.

4. Product development, promotion and marketing

TRPAP has given extensive priority to the marketing and promotion of its new tourism products. In its efforts to step up its promotional efforts, TRPAP recently launched the individual websites of its new tourism destinations. The web sites linked to the Nepal Tourism Board website can be accessed at: www.welcomenepal.com/chitwan/, www.welcomenepal.com/dolpa/, www.welcomenepal.com/kanchenjunga/, www.welcomenepal.com/trpap/areas_lumbini.html, www.welcomenepal.com/langtang/, www.welcomenepal.com/everest

In the past couple of years, TRPAP in coordination with Nepal Tourism Board has promoted the new tourism products at some of the biggest tourism international forums like World Travel Market (WTM) in U.K. and Internationale Tourismus Borse (ITB) in Germany, where Nepal's rural products were exclusively focused on and marketed. Participation at national fairs was also equally prioritized to raise the awareness among Nepali travel trade sector about the importance of sustainable tourism development. Promotional posters, brochures, post cards, CD ROMs of the new tourism destinations, which had been produced earlier, were disseminated among the travel trade participants at several international and national fairs and exhibitions as well.

Programme Evaluation

TRPAP's Final Evaluation has recently (October, 2006) been carried out by UNDP. The final evaluation report has revealed that the Programme has been able to achieve a considerable amount of progress in all key outcomes specified in the Project Document. Similarly, the report has made some recommendations aiming at, "capitalizing on the programme direction and the resources already developed including businesses and institutions". Based on the report, the UNDP has decided to extend the project-period till June 2007. During this extended period, the Programme will accomplish the key tasks, among others, including- publishing a book entitled "lessons learned from TRPAP Programme: 2001-2006"; running a series of awareness programmes- locally, nationally and internally- to showcase and disseminate pro-poor lessons learned from TRPAP; ensuring mechanisms are in place at a district level for infrastructure funded by TRPAP to be maintained by DDCs and VDCs on an ongoing basis; reorganising and strengthening the current STDU within the NTB; developing an agreed Exit Plan for TRPAP, and, preparing a new Project Document that provides (for 2-3 years) ongoing rural tourism development support to Nepal.

Key Publications

• Tourism Marketing Strategy for Nepal (2005-2020)
• District Tourism Development Plans (all 6 districts)
• Tourism Mapping Resource Profiles (for all districts)
• Training Manuals (at least 11 types)
• Resource Profile, Issue Report and Training Needs Assessment for SNP
• SNP Conservation and Tourism Management Plan
• Guidelines for STVF (VDC level) and STDF (DDC level)
• Guidelines for Waste Management
• Guideline for Visitor Information Centre/ Museum Management
• District Tourism Resource Profiles- of all 6 districts
• Rural Tourism Features 2004 & 2005 (40 feature articles)
• Rural Nepal Guide Book
• Tourism Product Promotional Brochures, Posters, Post-cards (Taplejung, Solukhumbu, Sagarmatha National Park, Dolpa, Rasuwa, Chitwan and Rupandehi)
• Documentary CDs (VCDs, DVDs) of all sites
• Rural Tourism Success Stories (Case Studies) Book
• TRPAP Annual Reports (2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005)
• Other Promotional Materials (Trekking Map, Interactive CD, etc.)

Additional link for detailed information: www.welcomenepal.com/trpap


TRPAP at a Glance

Executing Agent:	Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA)
Start Date: Estimated End Date: Project Sites:	September 2001 June 2007 Taplejung, Solukhumbu, Rasuwa, Chitwan, Rupandehi and Dolpa
*ACC Sector: ACC Sub-sector:	Environment Enhancement and management Trade in Service, including tourism
Funding Agency:	UNDP, DFID SNV
UNDP Contribution: Third Party cost sharing (DFID): Parallel Funding (SNV): Government Cost sharing:	US$ 708,257 US$ 41,38,321 US$ 493,893 None
Partnership with:	Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) District Developent Committees (DDCs)