As Nepal navigates these regulatory changes, striking a balance between necessary oversight and preserving digital freedom remains a contentious issue.
Regional tourists contribute significantly to Nepal’s visitor base, accounting for about 41.1% of total arrivals in 2023, with Indian, Chinese, and Bangladeshi tourists accounting for 31.52%, 5.99%, and 3.59% of the total tourist arrivals.
Care work draws on a diverse set of skills, knowledge, and abilities that are constantly at play; it is more than the completion of a few repetitive tasks.
Leveraging connectivity with natural beauty is definitely something to learn and adopt as the discourse of sustainable tourism is becoming a priority for many countries.
Nepal’s recent Time Use Survey (2019) revealed that women of working age spend 5.9 hours daily on domestic work versus just 2.25 hours for men. Strategic investments in care infrastructure, drawing from lessons from the region, could free up women’s time for formal employment while simultaneously creating new jobs in the care services sector – thereby boosting Nepal’s female labor force participation rate from its current level of 28.7% in 2023.
The transformation of Mustang presents both a cautionary tale and a blueprint for future development in Nepal’s mountain regions and the region’s success will depend on striking a delicate balance: leveraging improved accessibility to promote sustainable tourism while preserving its unique cultural heritage.