With its spectacular landscapes, fascinating cultural heritage and the Himalayan range, it’s no wonder that Nepal attracts visitors - over half a million this past year - from around the globe. However, the distribution of these tourism revenues to larger parts of Nepal - and especially among disadvantaged communities - remains an issue.

Requiring relatively low levels of capital investment, tourism can yield high levels of employment and income for the poor, particularly in rural areas where biodiversity and indigenous cultures have not yet been significantly eroded.  The living standards of these communities can be enhanced by infra-structure development, social mobilisation, institutional development, education, skills training and support for entrepreneurs. However, what really sets tourism apart from other industries is the ability to attract foreign and domestic visitors to under-developed rural areas and in so doing stimulate a wide range of business and income-generating opportunities for local people.  Consequently tourism, if sensitively planned and managed, can transform geographical remoteness and rugged landscape – normally obstacles to development in Nepal’s remotest districts – into economic assets.

SNV's Pro-Poor Sustainable Tourism (PPST) sector assists the public, private and NGO sectors harness tourism as a driver for job creation and local economic development for the benefit of Nepal's most disadvantaged communities.  The below programmes currently provide the focus for SNV's work in the tourism sector in Nepal.

Our Programmes:

• The Great Himalaya Trail Development Programme: SNV is working with the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Nepal Tourism Board, the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal and host communities to create an iconic and globally significant new great trek which spans the entire length of the country.  The GHT provides tourists with an opportunity to travel through some of the world’s most spectacular scenery while stimulating investment, employment and business development for remote and disadvantaged Himalayan communities. 

  The specific objectives of the programme are to: (1) increase the flow of tourists to, and within, Nepal (2) build and embed the necessary ownership structures and capacity to enable long-term effective and inclusive management of the GHT (3) create a policy and regulatory environment which motivates and supports industry investment and maximises benefits for local communities (4) help host communities identify, and successfully exploit, high potential production, income and employment opportunities within the tourism value chain, and (5) harness market mechanisms to promote, support and reward adoption of responsible business practices within the industry.
  

  Read more about the

  The Great Himalaya Trail Development Programme
• High Impact Tourism Training (HITT) for Jobs and Income: Through the European Commission (EC) funded programme, Developing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Methodologies and Services for the Informal Economy, SNV is implementing the High Impact Tourism Training for Jobs and Income (HITT). The HITT programme aims to contribute to sustainable pro-poor growth of the informal tourism sector in seven least-developed countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. In the framework of this programme SNV and (local) TVET partners in close collaboration with the private sector will elaborate a skills development programme for informal sector actors, notably women and youth, focusing market-oriented product and service delivery, enhancing productivity and professionalism, thus increasing chances for employability and income possibilities, of these target groups. 
• Responsible Travel Nepal: The Responsible Travel initiative harnesses market mechanisms to motivate, assist and reward the adoption of - and adherence to - environmentally sustainable and socially responsible management practices within the tourism industry.  Click here to read more about the Responsible Travel Nepal initiative.