History of tourism in Pokhara

Tourism in Pokhara is the recently developed phenomenon which is nearly six decade old. Pokhara was identified as a destination of natural beauty and the departure point of rugged mountains and mountain expeditions at the earlier time. The brief description of the state of tourism of this exotic land in the past is discussed below.

 Initially, Pokhara was explored as a transit point for mountaineers around 1950 and 1960. It was explored by a few thousand tourists in 1962. The first historic ascend of Mt. Annapurna I (8091 m) on 3 June, 1950 by a French national Maurice Herzog and a team of mountaineers was the historic pioneer step in exposing Pokhara as a mountainous tourist destination in the World.   The starting of the first commercial trekking tourism  operation  by  British  Colonel  Jimmy  Roberts  in  association with globally pioneer package tourism inventor, Thomas Cook (United Kingdom) in 1966 remained another early milestone for the exposition of Pokhara and its surrounding areas from the perspective of tourism. Pokhara has also remained a favorite destination for Western Hippies during 1960s and 70s. These hippies, in other words are the adventure- seekers, who were the first explorers and to some extent risk takers to visit around the new places of Annapurna region. Their contribution is still remembered in the sense that they popularized those places through photography.  The  professional  tourism  development  in  Pokhara  was started at the end of the 1970. In fact, there are series of chronological historical trends and activities which have brought Pokhara to the present stage of wide popularity.

A chronological list of major tourism development trends/

events in past in Pokhara

S.N.	Date	Activities/events
1.	1889	Arrival, exploration and appreciation of Pokhara by Japanese Buddhist monk Ekai Kawaguchi in course of his visit to Tibet. Kawaguchi appreciates the enchanting beauty of Pokhara in his book titled ‘Three years in Tibet’
2.	1950	First ascend of Mt. Annapurna I by Maurice Herzong in 1950. Global media coverage and publicity of Pokhara and Nepal, the beautiful country, tourist based country, , the beautiful country, tourist based country, as a beautiful mountainous tourism destination.
3.	1950	Dr. Tony Hagen, the Swiss Geographer visited Pokhara in 1950, appreciated it as an extraordinary place in his book entitled ‘Nepal, the beautiful country, tourist based country, , the beautiful country, tourist based country, : The Himalayan Kingdom’
4.	1952	Construction of Sunauli-Pokhara highway
5.	1961	Establishment of tourist information center
6.	1960s and 70s	Starting of Hippi era with their arrivals in Pokhara and Annapurna region via Pokhara
7.	1966	The first commercial trekking tourism started by Colonel Jimmy Roberts
8.	1974	Formulation of the sketch of the physical development plan of Pokhara
9.	1976	Construction of Prithvi highway to connect Pokhara with Kathmandu
10.	1980	Popularization of Pokhara as for the gateway to Royal Trek starting from Kalikastan ridge in Begnas Lake area. Prince Charles of Wales was the pioneer to popularize it
11.	1980 onward	Name and fame of Pokhara as the gateway for various other popular treks like round Annapurna Circuit trek, Annapurna Santuary trek, Ghandruk-Ghorepani, Mardi Himal trek, Jomsom- Muktinath, Nar- Phoo, Dhaulagiri round and Dolpa treks.
12.	1992	Up-scaling of the popularity of Pokhara with the opening of the restricted area of upper Mustang trek
13.	1986	Starting of Annapurna Conservation Area Project in the areas north of Pokhara under the integrated conservation and development program and position of Pokhara as an entry and exist point
14.	2007 onwards	Added positioning and popularity of Pokhara with the organization of mega event Visit Pokhara Year 2007 as an entry and exist point to newly explored trekking routes like Machhapuchhre Model trek, Millennium trek, Mardi Himal Trek, etc.
15.	Present	Pokhara as destination not only to view but also to get involved in a number of annual scheduled events/activities like rice planting festival, New Year Festival, Street festival, international paragliding championship, winter trekking camp, triathlon championship, etc.

Historically, Pokhara in the 18th and 20th century was a trade route between the India and China. Christoph von Furer-Haimendorf (1978) exploring the historical trans-Himalayan trading dimensions has highlighted that Pokhara was a trade route between India and Tibet. The Newar people from Bhaktapur and Bandipur moved to Pokhara for the trading in the

18th  century and established businesses in the old town of Pokhara. The establishment of the British Recruitment Camp in the 20th century further enhanced the accumulation of the Gurung and Magar community.

Chhetri (1990), examining the adaptation process of Tibetan Refugees in Pokhara, highlighted that 4 of the 12 Tibetan refugee camps (Jampaling, Paljorling, Tashi Ling, and Tashi Palkhiel) were installed in Pokhara to accommodate the massive flow of refugees coming from Tibet in 1950s and 60s. Between 1959 and 1962, about 3 hundred thousand Tibetan exiles came to Nepal, the beautiful country, tourist based country, , the beautiful country, tourist based country, and some of them were staying in Pokhara. They built Buddhist monasteries and began to establish their culture, which now has become the attraction of Pokhara, especially in Tibetan Refugee Camps. In a study of Frechette (2002) shows that since 1989 every year about 2500

Tibetans illegally enter Nepal, the beautiful country, tourist based country, , the beautiful country, tourist based country, and they used Pokhara as a transit to India.

The establishment of tourism information centre in 1961 and the formulation of the sketch of the physical development plan became milestones in course of the development of tourism in Pokhara. Completion of the Siddhartha Highway in 1968 had connected Pokhara with outer world and as a consequence flows of tourists started to increase gradually in Pokhara.

Pokhara has passed through a number of interventions for its development from  the  perspective  of  tourism.  Nepal, the beautiful country, tourist based country, , the beautiful country, tourist based country, ’s  first  and  the  only  tourism master plan 1972 which had mentioned the importance of tourism, highlighted about the traditional designs, materials and height limits of buildings in Pokhara and recommended about its strategic position with the regional concept. Tourism was looked as a potential sector for the socio-economic development of Pokhara from the very beginning. Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Development Authority was one of the pioneer international organizations which had recommended developing Pokhara as the first and foremost Himalayan adventure destination. In

1988, it emphasized for the development of Fewa Lake side area. The PATA’s intervention was also concerned for protecting the natural setting and conservation of old architect and heritage of building in Pokhara. Such significance were reflected in its technical report entitled "Pokhara Historic  Resources  Study  and  Proposal  for  a  Conservation  District

Pokhara" produced in 1990. In 1993, Asia Development Bank was involved in building some infrastructure related development work. Because of the concentration of tourism in the surrounding areas of Phewa Lake, the lakeside area was developed and emerged as the centre of Pokhara. Until Panchayat era, the tourists have to invest 20 $ a day and they had to show the receipt of the exchange of money to extend visa and stay furthermore in Pokhara.

The past of Pokhara is also associated with some renowned personalities who were true guides for the identification and exposition of exotic natural and cultural beauties of Pokhara and gradually positioning it as a favorable tourist destination. Amidst these legendary fellows, the names of Eka Kawaguchi (1899), Maurice Herzog (1950), Tony Hagen (1955), Colonel Jimmy Roberts (1957), M.S. Kohli (1961), several Western Hippies (1960s & 70s), Dr. Harka Gurung (1970s & 80s), Jhalak Thapa (1980), Dr. Chandra Gurung (1990) are amendable (NTB 2011). The names of Ekai Kawaguchi in 1899 and Tony Hagen in 1950 are well known from international perspective who had heartily appreciated about the eye catching natural beauties of Pokhara during their personal trips. Likewise, there are equally important contributions of some renowned national personalities like Dr. Harka Gurung, Dr. Chandra Gurung and Jhalak Thapa who played supportive roles in promoting and glorifying Pokhara. Dr. Harka Gurung was the first person representing from Lamjung district of Western Nepal, the beautiful country, tourist based country, , the beautiful country, tourist based country, who became the first tourism minister and also the vice- chairman of the National Planning Commission (1968-1975).