Reports

weekly, Bratislava (16 March 1994) 14OECD Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries OECD, Paris (1989) 15EC 'Directions about package travel, package holidays and package tours' EC Digest (1990) L 158/59 16Wiirzl, A Fremdenverkehrspolitik Wirt- schaftsuniversitat Wien (1988) 17Freyer, W Tourismum Einfiihrung in die FremdenverkehrsOkomonie 2nd end, Old- enbourg Verlag, Miinchen (1990) 276-280 18Maier, J 'Geographie der Fremedenver- kehrsorten und Freizeitarten" Sozial und

Wirthschaftsgeographie 2. Paul List Verlag, Mfinchen (1982) 209-212 19Greenwood, J 'Producer interest groups in tourism policy. Case studies from Britain and the European Community' American Behavioral Scientist 1992 36 236-256 2°Slovak Statistical Office 'Privatization in trade and tourism industry" Statistical Year- book of the Slovak Republic 1993 Bratisla- va (1994) 21National Bank of Slovakia 'Balance of payments of the SIovak Republic in 1993' in Biatec (a journal of the National Bank of Slovakia) 1994 2 (6) [Bratislava]

L6 revisited: the next 18 months

Myra Shackley, Professor o f Culture Resource Management at the Nottingham Trent University, reports on her latest visit to the kingdom o f LO to monitor the success o f the tourism management methods put in place since tourism was introduced. Visitor numbers have fallen but resentment against tourists is high in parts, probably because tourism revenues are not yet contributing much to development projects.

The writer first visited the Himalayan kingdom of L6 in October 1992, six months after it was first opened to visitors, to report on existing tourism impact and recommend management structures.~ 3 L6 is a semi-autonomous desert province of Nepal whose people (L6-Ba) are Tibetan-speaking Buddhists. Since the writer's first visit the man- agement of tourism has been under the control of ACAP (Annapurna Conservation Area Project) and part of the task of the 1994 expedition was to assess the success of their manage- ment methods. The interdisciplinary team (which included photographers, an architect and information tech- nologist, etc) also established the feasibility of constructing a computer- based multimedia culture resource database for L6 to record material culture, architecture, spatial data such as town plans and ecological informa- tion. This will act both as archive and management tool to assist in culture resource and tourism management based round a geographic information system (GIS) which utilized a solar- powered laptop computer and global positioning system.

Many of the problems previously

identified in L6 stemmed from the fact that none of the permit fees or other tourism revenues were being returned to local communities. ACAP commit- ted itself to returning 60% to foster tourism development through grass- roots conservation and community de- velopment works. 4 However, in prac- tice less than 27% of the revenues have actually been returned, develop- ment projects are patchy, minimal in- vestment has been made in ecotourism with the exception of trail signposting, provision of information leaflets and enforcing the existing environmental protection regulations. Many conflicts have emerged between ACAP man- agement (none of whom is local), local L6-Ba people, the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism and various NGOs. More positive signs involve the development of limited cultural programmes and provision of security for art treasures at several major gompas (monastery temples) although this has failed to prevent a series of major thefts.

According to the Department of Immigration the number of trekkers to L6 in 1992 was 557. A detailed breakdown of country of origin was available for 1993 to May 1994, in-

dicating that the kingdom had re- ceived less than 1500 visitors since it opened in March 1992 with a dramatic drop in 1993-94. This probably re- flects an overall reduction in visita- tions to Nepal but might also suggest that the initial novelty value of L6 as a destination is over and that few visi- tors are prepared to pay the very high cost ($700 permit fee). There seems no danger of exceeding the annual visitor limit of 1000. Visitors are pri- marily Western European (principally German, French, Dutch, Swiss) with American visitation diminishing from 146 in 1993 to four in 1994. There is, however, reason to suggest that these figures are not entirely accurate.

Since the writer's previous visit in October 1992 the regulation banning trade between hosts and guests has been lifted although strict environmen- tal regulations remain in place. Visitors must still travel in an organized group, accompanied by an Environmental Liaison Officer (appointed in Kath- mandu, not L6). They must take tents, kerosene and all necessary supplies. Donations may now be given to gom- pas, schools, etc and souvenirs purch- ased. Observation supports the L6-Ba complaint that one economic effect of tourism is accentuation of a wealth gap. This is inevitable since the re- moval of the trading ban has resulted in more use being made of inns, with potential profit for innkeepers from the supply of campsites, cooking facili- ties, drinks, etc. There are complaints of a rise in the price of basic foodstuffs owing to tourism. There is a notice- able increase in signage (almost every inn now has an English sign) but no perceptible upgrading of internal faci- lities or cleanliness. Regulations have been altered so that, in theory, visitors could now stay in a local inn but since they are still compelled to take full camping equipment and staff few take advantage of the opportunity. Most, in any case, would prefer the relative cleanliness of a tent to the dirt of a local inn. Although the regulations still prevent independent backpackers it is clear that ACAP is moving in this direction although this is unlikely to happen while visitors are still compel- led to be accompanied by an Environ- mental Liaison Officer.

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The facilities being offered in vil- lages have been greatly expanded. At many locations well-organized inn owners have started to stock a wide variety of bottled drinks and food- stuffs (beer, sodas, confectionery, etc) imported for resale. Little architectu- ral impact is evident despite predic- tions that rapid upgrading of local inns would occur. Some extensions of tea- houses are recent, as at Syangmoden, but these seem to relate more to in- creased local movement (teachers, aid and health workers) than visitors. One local entrepreneur in L6 Manthang who had planned a purpose-built ex- tension to his premises had been obliged to lease the house to ACAP at a low rent. Our party observed only one major construction - a new room in the Bista house in Tsarang which had been carefully built in the local style, though with over-large win- dows. The room was intended to be a communal eating/meeting room for trekkers staying in the nearby camp- site but was not suitable for overnight stays.

Despite offical claims to the con- trary members of the expedition who had been to Mustang previously noted further signs of depopulation, gompas being increasingly neglected with in- sufficient local people available to pay for their upkeep. The actual cost of repairs is quite small by western stan- dards and there is some evidence that western visitors who have expressed a willingness to contribute or pay for repairs have been rejected by ACAP who only allow donations into a cen- tral pool from which payments are made to official projects. However, more positive signs of change since 1992 included new wall/house con- struction, tree plantation and irriga- tion works although these probably only affected a minority of families. New taps and waterpipes had been installed in many villages, financed by CARE Nepal. One member of our team, a farmer, observed that the fields were manure depleted with perhaps only 30% of available arable land being cultivated (less when away from the water of the Kali Gandaki valley). Available manure was being burnt for fuel, rather than returned to the fields, and crop quality was vari-

able. L6-Ba expressed pleasure in the progress which had been made over the past two years but wanted a geat deal more very fast. Most thought that this could best be achieved by attract- ing far larger numbers of visitors and no one expressed any environmental concerns.

The social impact of tourism did not seem greatly changed. Children still begged for sweets and adolescent girls have started to ask for lip salve or face cream. Formal charges had not yet been instituted for photographs and many older people did not wish their photograph to be taken. Local people appeared to be far more used to visi- tors, except in very remote areas. More souvenir sellers were evident, clustering around every campsite, but many of these were not L6-Ba but traders from outside the kingdom (mostly from Tibet). In L6 Manthang resentment against visitors was still high. The city has seen no rain for more than two years causing severe drought which was being attributed to the evil influence of tourists. If ACAP are not successful in returning larger amounts of tourism revenues in the

Reports

form of development projects this re- sentment will be greatly increased, but the reduction in visitor numbers begs the question of whether such develop- ment would in any case be sustainable in the long run.

Myra Shackley Nottingham Trent University

Burton Street Nottingham NG1 4BU, UK

References

~Shackley, M Tourism Impact in Upper Mustang, Nepal report of Reconnaissance Visit made October-November 1992, Not- tingham Trent University (1992) ZShackley, M. 'The land of L6: the first eight months of tourism' Tourism Manage- ment 1993 15 (1) 17-26 3Shackley, M 'Monastic rituals and extinct animals; the significance of a meh-teh mask at Nqon-Ga Janqhub Lin Monthang Choedhe gompa, Nepal/Tibet' Anthrozoos 1994 7 (2) 82-84 4KMTNC/ACAP Upper Mustang Con- servation and Development Project. Annual progress report Fiscal Year 1992/3 (16 July 1992-15 July 1993) Kathmandu, King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation/ Annapurna Conservation Area Project (1994)

Latest research in travel and tourism

The following paragraphs briefly summarize the 25th annual conference o f the Travel and Tourism Research Association held in Bal Harbour, FL USA. Conference registrants and member o f T T R A will automatically receive a copy o f the conference proceedings when they are published. Other readers who wish to receive copies may order them f rom Francine Butler, TTRA, 10200 West 44th Avenue, Suite 304, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033; 303/940-6557. The cost is $75.

The conference began with a variety of research workshops the first of which covered ecotourism.

John Crossley, University of Utah, presented 'Ecotour is ts and Mass Tourists: A Difference in "Benefits Sought" '. Based on results of a ques- tionnaire mailed to randomly selected ecotourists and mass tourists, several significant differences were found be- tween the two groups. Ecotourists were younger and more educated, had

higher incomes, and held more profes- sional and managerial occupations. Discriminant analysis revealed that significant differences existed between ecotourists and mass tourists on the basis of benefits sought but that they commonly shared environmental and cultural concerns.

Ute Jamrozy, Clemson University, discussed 'The Relationship of In- volvement and Opinion Leadership in Nature-based Tourism'. The purpose

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