INFLUENCES OF BENI-JOMSOM ROAD ON TOURISM OF LOWER-MUSTANG (A Case Study of Jomsom, Airport Area of )

A Dissertation Submitted to Department of Sociology/Anthropology The faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Prithvi Narayan Campus in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Master’s Degree in Anthropology

By Manju Gurung Campus Roll No.: 36/062

Tribhuvan University Prithvi Narayan Campus, , March, 2012

1 LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

This is to certify that Ms. Manju Gurung has completed this dissertation entitled, “INFLUENCES OF BENI-JOMSOM ROAD ON TOURISM OF LOWER- MUSTANG: A Case Study of Jomsom, Airport Area of Mustang District under my supervision and guidance. I, therefore, recommend this dissertation for final approval and acceptance.

………………...... Dr. Biswo Kallyan Parajuli PhD Associate Professor Department of Sociology/Anthropology Prithvi Narayan Campus Pokhara.

I LETTER OF APPROVAL

This thesis entitled "INFLUENCES OF BENI-JOMSOM ROAD ON TOURISM OF LOWER-MUSTANG (A Case Study of Jomsom, Airport Area of Mustang District) submitted to the Department of Sociology/Anthropology; Prithvi Narayan Campus by Ms. Manju Gurung has been approved by the undersigned members of the Dissertation Evaluation Committee.

Members of Dissertation Evaluation Committee

------(Biswo Kallyan Parajuli PhD) Supervisor

------(Prof. Kedar Basnet PhD) External

------(Shanta Bhusal) Head Department of Sociology\Anthropology Prithvi Narayan Campus Date: March, 2012

II

RECOMMENDATION BY LANGUAGE EDITOR

This is to certify that I have gone through the draft of dissertation entitled "INFLUENCES OF BENI-JOMSOM ROAD ON TOURISM OF LOWER- MUSTANG (A Case Study of Jomsom, Airport Area of Mustang District) prepared by Ms. Manju Gurung as a language editor and made necessary correction and improvements therein. I have been impressed by her intelligible presentation of facts through the medium of plain and correct English.

(Khimananda Paudel) Teaching Assistant Department of English Education Prithvi Narayan Campus Pokhara Nepal

Date: March, 2012

III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study would not have come into the present shape without kind support and encouragement of my respected thesis supervisor Dr.Bishowkalyan Parajuli, Associate Professor of Sociology/Anthropology, Prithvi Narayan Campus, Pokhara. I am very much grateful to him.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Krishna Gurung and other staffs of ACAP of Jomsom unit for their valuable inputs and providing me the required materials and support.

I would like to thank the people of Jomsom, Mustang for their cordial support and co- operation during the field work.

I would specially like to thank all the teachers of the department as well as head assistant Mr. Mahesh Paneru for providing the valuable insights on theoretical and practical aspects of this research.

I express my heartfelt thanks to "Quick Computer Service Pokhara-1, Bagar" for making dissertation presentable with skilled and professional computer works.

I am grateful to my family members including my parents, brother and sisters for supporting and providing the time to complete the dissertation work.

Manju Gurung March, 2012

IV Abstract

Key words: Road construction, influences of road, tourists, alternative route, conservation Area.

Tourism industry has been identified as one of the main industry contributing for Nepal’s economy. Tourism business is also has been contributing to local livelihood. Revenue from tourism as entry fee has been main financial source for protected area management in Annapurna conservation area. Trekkers come to Mountain Region of Nepal to enjoy wilderness and remoteness as well as to experience rich culture and biodiversity. Road construction in Lower – Mustang has created conflict between trekkers and tourism entrepreneurs. At the same time, it has also opened new opportunities of other tourism products. Proper plan and management, timely intervention is required to balance benefit and problems emerged from new road development in the Mountain districts like Mustang of Nepal.

V CONTENTS

Letter of Recommendations I Letter of Acceptance II Letter of Language Editor III Acknowledgements IV Abstract V Contents VI List of Tables IX List of figure X Abbreviations XI

CHAPTER-I: INTRODUCTION 1-5 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem 2 1.3 Objective of the Study 4 1.4 Rationale of the Study 4 1.5 Limitation of the Study 5 1.6 Organization of the Thesis 5

CHAPTER-II: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 6-26 2.1 Theoretical Review 6 2.1.1 Evolution of the Tourism 6 2.1.2 History and Development of Tourism in Nepal 7 2.1.3 Tourism after 1951 8 2.1.4 Nepal and World Tourism 13 2.1.5 Position in South Asia 13 2.2 Conceptual Frame work 14 2.3 Empirical Studies 15 2.3.1 Road and Tourism 15 2.3.2 Components of Tourism 16 2.3.3 Types of Tourism 19 2.3.4 Impact of Tourism 20 2.3.4.1 Environmental Impact 21

VI 2.3.4.2 Socio-Cultural Impact 22 2.3.4.3 Economic Impact 23 2.3.5 Tourism in Mustang 24

CHAPTER-III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 27-31 3.1 Selection of Study Area 27 3.2 Research Design 28 3.3 Rapport Building 28 3.4 Sources of Data & Method of Data Collection 29 3.5 Census 29 3.6 Data Collection Technique 30 3.6.1 Key informant Interview 30 3.6.2 Questionnaire Schedule 30 3.6.3 Observation 31 3.7 Data Analysis and Presentation 31

CHAPTER IV: SETTING AND POPULATION 32-39 4.1 Geographical Settings 32 4.2 Cultural Settings 34 4.3 Brief Introduction of Annapurna Conservation Area 34 4.4 Role of ACAP in Tourism Management 35 4.5 Demographic Structure of Study Population 37 4.5.1 Age Composition of Respondents 37 4.5.2 Sex Composition of Respondents 38 4.5.3 Occupation of the Respondents 38

CHAPTER-V: INFLUENCES AND IMPORTANCE OF ROAD ON LOCAL PEOPLE 40–50 5.1 Construction of Road in Mustang 40 5.2 The Influences of Road in the heart of Village 41 5.3 Perception of Local people about the Influences of Motor able Road on Trekking Route 42 5.4 Impact of Road on Environment 43 5.5 Impact of Tourist on Local People 44 5.6 Local Efforts to attract Tourists 44

VII 5.7 Negative Impact of Tourism on Socio-Culture and Environment 45 5.8 Relationship between Occupation & Positive Effects 46 5.9 Relationship between Age & Negative Effects 47 5.10 Benefit to the Tourist by Motor able Road 48 5.11 The Tourist: A Special Case 49

CHAPTER-VI: CHANGE IN STUDY AREA: BEFORE AND AFTER THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROAD 51-66 6.1 Struggles for Adaptation to Changed Scenario 51 6.2 The Birth of Multiple Projects 52 6.3 Changes in Export and Import of Goods in Mustang After the Road 54 6.4 Horse Power Vs Human Power: Turning Point for Roving Tradesmen 54 6.5 Trend of Visitors Arrival in Mustang 55 6.6 Flow of Tourist Arrivals after the Construction of the Road 57 6.7 Changes in the Arrival of Tourist after the Road 60 6.8 Perception of the Local People 61 6.9 Perception of Tourist to the newly Built Road 64 6.10 Suggestion and Comment by Respondents 65

CHAPTER-VII: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 67-71 7.1 Summary 67 7.2 Impacts of Road on Local People 67 7.3 Conclusion 69 7.4 Recommendation 71 References Annexes

VIII LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Titles Page

4.1 Composition by Age 37 4.2 Sex Structure of Respondents 38 4.3 Occupation of the Respondents 39 5.1 Response to Impact of Motor able Road on Trekking Route 43 5.2 Impact of Road on Environment 43 5.3 Impact of Road on local People 44 5.4 Local Effort to attract Tourists 45 5.5 Negative Impact of Tourism 45 5.6 Positive Effect of Road According to Occupational Group 46 5.7 Negative Effect of the Road According to Age Group 47 5.8 Benefit of the Road to the Tourist 48 6.1 Trend of Visitors in Mustang Since 1995 to 2010 56 6.2 Flow of Tourist after the Road Construction 47 6.3 Country Wise Arrival of Visitors in Mustang in 2011 58 6.4 Monthly Arrivals of Visitors in Mustang in 2010 59 6.5 Future of Tourism in Mustang due to Road 62 6.6 Alternatives for Sustainability of Tourism in Mustang 63

IX LIST OF FIGURE

Titles Page No.

2.1 Conceptual Framework 14 6.1 Trend of Visitors Arrival in Mustang Since 1995 to 2010 56 6.2 Country wise Arrival of Visitors in Mustang in 2011 58 6.3 Monthly Arrivals of Visitors in Mustang in 2010. 60 6.4 Topmost National to visit Mustang before the Construction of Motor Road 61 6.5 Topmost National to visit Mustang after the Construction of Motor Road 61 6.6 Visitors’ Perception Through the Local People 64 6.7 Measures for Uplifting Tourism in Mustang 66

X ABBREVIATIONS

ACA Annapurna Conservation Area ACAP Annapurna Conservation Area Project CA Conservation Area DDC District Development Committee GON Government of Nepal RAT Round Annapurna Trek KMTNC King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation ICDP Integrated Conservation and Development Programme NPC National Planning Commission NTNC National Trust for Nature Conservation SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences RNAC Royal Nepal Airline Corporation VDC Village Development Committee UP Utter Pradesh HP Himanchal Pradesh UK United Kingdom USA United States of America PDPW Project Development Planning Workshop FGD Focus Group Discussion ICIMOD International Center for Integrated Mountain Development UNEP United Nation Environmental Project PA Protected Area

XI