NEPAL |
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| "We learn best from what is real, and teach best what we know through first hand experience." | ||||||
–
John S. Shelton |
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| This
is a sample page of a photo documentary book, Tourism Impact in Nepal,
completed in 1999. I traveled there twice to conduct field research.
The objective was to analyze the cultural and environmental impacts
of tourism in this popular Himalayan travel destination. Chitwan: Razu Bista's case One example of the positive impacts of ecotourism that I discovered while staying in Sauraha, Chitwan, was exemplified by Razu Bista’s case. He was in the process of building his own lodge, Paradise Lodge. He was able to do so with a business loan from a European tourist, whom he had met a few years before while managing a tourist lodge. This tourist loved visiting Nepal and would to do so every couple of years. They became well acquainted with each other, and the tourist decided to help Razu have his own business by providing him with the financial assistance that was necessary. Razu was grateful for the opportunity to own his own lodge, and took great pride in the construction and development of his Paradise Lodge. Razu intended to manage his lodge using ecotourism principles, such as using solar-heated water tanks, planting fruit trees, growing vegetables, grain, and fowl on site, composting, hiring local people for labor to contribute towards raising the economic living standards of the Tharu people, and having the septic tanks away from any water sources. He was very glad for the chance to improve his economic life through tourism, and was very aware of the responsibility to minimize the negative impacts from it. |
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