English - Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal ...

The Remake of a Statethe nation but also due to its comparative low capital intensive nature incontrast to other sectors of the economy.However, tourism, a multifaceted sector, cannot grow in isolation asit combines a cluster of activities serving the demands of a diverselytraveling public. On one hand, this brings prosperity through jobs, foreigninvestment and foreign exchange. On the other, it can also damageenvironments, stress societies, erode culture and values and manifestconflict. Managing this inherent complexity and promoting durable peaceand prosperity for state building is possible by making tourism sustainableand participatory.Sustainability of tourism is a positive approach intended to reduce thetensions and frictions arising from the complex interactions betweenthe tourism industry, visitors, the environment and the communities ofvaried geography and ethnic compositions which include hosts as wellas the holiday makers. It is an approach which involves working for thelong-term viability and quality of both natural and human resources. Itensures that tourism developments are sustainable in the long-term and,wherever possible, help in turn to sustain the areas in which they operate.ST also aims to increase visitors’ satisfaction.As the principle of ST emphasises on the holistic, integrated and intersectoralapproach to tourism planning, development and managementwith local community in its core, alternative tourism such as communitybased pro-poor village tourism and eco-tourism with proper supplylinkages could help to manage tourism in a sustainable way. These modelsof tourism can also be effective for inclusive participation of economicallypoor local communities as prime beneficiaries. This will help achievebalanced and inclusive development and contribute to poverty eradicationat large.The status of tourism development in Nepal is far below the expectationsin spite of the huge potentials for socio-economic transformation.Decentralisation of tourism sector operations coinciding with thedelineation of federal states, enhancement of democratic practices,sufficient empowerment, equal participations and assurance of equitablebenefits are desirable for state building. Tourism could play an instrumentalrole in state building if the neglected segments of the society and thepeople in the backward areas get its maximum benefits. The ST model canbe a suitable alternative in the noble goal of state building.105