Sustainable development of indigenous culture tourism in Nepal. Case study: Newari culture of Bhaktapur

Abstract

This report presents possibilities of cultural tourism development in a Newari community of the Bhaktapur region, Nepal. The theoretical aspects of the sustainability of cultural tourism are analysed in the report and the impacts of cultural tourism in Bhaktapur are described.

This research is exploring the impacts of tourism in the local communities based on the case study of community homestays in the area in a developing country, Nepal. The main objective of this thesis project is to show the need for conservation of indigenous cultural tourism and to determine the current obstacles in the conservation process. Information about the current situations was investigated and the problems were identified. After analysing the results from the research, the literature and empirical observation, and recommendations were noted. The results show that the conservation of indigenous culture is important for the Newar of Bhaktapur. This thesis focuses on how tourism has affected the local area and its outcome. This thesis also presents the interconnections between culture, indigenous knowledge, and development in Nepal. Particularly the case studies of Bhaktapur, Panauti, and Barauli community homestays provide the much-needed insight for sustainable indigenous tourism development.

To further validate the case studies in this thesis, long-term tourism experts and tourism students from Nepal who are from the Newari background are interviewed. This real-time data collected from the interviewees aims to enhance usability and provides a solid foundation for future tourism development in the community. The primary aim of the thesis is to study the impacts of tourism in the local community. How have they influenced the livelihood of the research area, why the changes have occurred.