Introducing the Walking Tour Concept to the Nepali Tourism Market : Developing a Marketing Strategy for the Start-Up LOVE KATHMANDU

Abstract

The Himalaya, Buddha and certainly other cultural and landscaped features of Nepal frequently welcome international tourists. Hence, tourism can be considered as one of the mostly benefiting markets in the overall Nepali economy. Social, political and other country- and worldwide-based factors influence international arrivals, travel behaviors, and thus, local touristic services. Implementing a marketing strategy in emerging countries that results in effectively standardized outcomes is therefore not only a challenging marketing management task, but it also requires elaborate analyses and a general understanding of international trends in the tourism industry. As a sub branch of Mountain Delights Expeditions & Treks Pvt. Ltd., Love Kathmandu recently entered the Nepali tourism market as a pioneering niche player with highly differentiated services: It offers adventurous and non-mainstream-oriented tourists inexpensive theme-based walking tours through less known corners and hidden backstreets of Kathmandu. This thesis analyzes the readiness of the Nepali tourism market regarding a western tourism concept, and identifies demand and supply influencing determinants. By compiling a marketing mix for Love Kathmandu, the author conducted a standardized marketing strategy for other tourism service providers in Nepal that can be used with the appropriate assessment of one’s own capabilities.