The balloon festival in Pokhara is drawing more local tourists than foreign ones

The Pame neighborhood of Pokhara, where Phewa Lake begins, is currently hosting a balloon festival of worldwide proportions. Up until late Sunday night, the region, which is roughly eight kilometers west of Lakeside, Pokhara’s tourism destination, was packed with domestic visitors. Few international people attended the balloon event; most attendees were domestic tourists.

During the weekend holidays, a lot of domestic tourists traveled to the Pame region. Previously, travelers would usually only enjoy their time in the Lakeside region, but this year’s balloon festival has drawn guests from as far away as Pame.

“For international tourists, balloon festivals are nothing new,” stated Bikram Bade, president of Balloon Nepal. But because it is a new product, it is more appealing to Indian and domestic guests. About 250 people fly in the balloons every day, he said. For a cost of Rs 2,000 per person, about 120 of these passengers enjoy full flights, while the remaining passengers only fly just over the ground.

According to him, most domestic guests are experiencing this festival for the first time because it is the first time it has been conducted in Nepal. He claimed that the attendance of domestic tourists was the reason this festival, which was hosted for the first time in Pokhara, was a success. He went on to say, “The balloon festival benefits from the rise in domestic tourists visiting Pokhara for the street festival.”

Pokhara is now hosting a street festival. The Restaurant and Bar Association of Nepal (REBAN), the event’s organizer, anticipates that roughly 500,000 people will attend the street festival, which has been held for the last 26 years. According to entrepreneurs, this festival has been a major factor in attracting domestic visitors to Pokhara. They said that the influx of domestic visitors had boosted the travel and tourism industry.

“The tourism industry depends heavily on foreign visitors. However, Bharat Raj Parajuli, a key member of the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN), stated that domestic travelers have made a significant contribution to Pokhara’s tourism industry. “Domestic tourists have become the mainstay of the tourism business,” he added. The tourism industry would not have existed without them.

According to him, domestic travelers take part in practically all of Pokhara’s tourism events. “Due to the contribution of domestic tourists, Pokhara’s hotel occupancy has doubled from 25% in the past week. In the upcoming days, this occupancy is probably going to rise even more before progressively decreasing,” he continued.

Domestic visitors provide a significant contribution to Pokhara’s tourism industry, according to Tika Ram Sapkota, a former member of the Nepal Tourism Board. Before Nepal celebrated the Visit Nepal Year 1998, Sapkota claims that stakeholders in the country were ignorant of the significance of domestic travel.

Sapkota claims that the proportion of domestic visitors in Nepal had approached 40% prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, the proportion of domestic visitors has somewhat declined since the outbreak. He added that the COVID-19 pandemic-induced economic slowdown disrupted tourism, which in turn reduced the contribution of domestic travelers.

“Domestic travelers continue to be the primary pillar of the tourist industry. It has decreased, nonetheless, in contrast to the time before COVID-19. Domestic travelers would have given the tourism industry even more support if the pandemic had not struck. But recently, it has become weaker.