Visitor arrivals in March 2009 -- by air only -- suggest that the global financial crisis has started hurting Nepal's tourism sector hard.
The figures released by the Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), reveal that arrival figures in the month of March 2009 -- compared to the same month last year -- decreased by 17.6 per cent to drop to 33,005.
In the South Asian market, only Sri Lanka and Bangladesh registered growth by 12.3 per cent and 29.6 per cent respectively.
India and Pakistan witnessed negative growth of 24.7 per cent and 6.3 per cent respectively in March, challenging the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) assertion that it has been doing promotional activities in various Indian cities.
Other Asian countries Thailand and Singapore maintained an upward trend with 132.3 per cent and 50.2 per cent growth respectively. However, arrivals from Japan, South Korea and Malaysia negative growth by 19 per cent, 34.2 pe rcent and 7.1 per cent respectively.
There has been a nominal decline of 0.8 per cent in arrivals from China which reflects the unfailing economic growth of the country compared to other tourist generating markets. The entire European and Oceania regions registered negative growth of 19.8 per cent and 11.6 per cent respectively in comparison to the same month last year.
Likewise arrivals from Canada and United States of America, registering negative growths of nine per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively The global recession is attributed -- like the Asian Development Outloot 2009 has suggested -- to the decline in tourist arrivals worldwide as travelling is determined by disposable income, travel budgets and consumer confidence.
United Nations World Tourism Organisation ( UNWTO ) expects international tourism to stagnate or even decline slightly by a negative one to two per cent throughout 2009.
A total of 32,945 foreign tourists departed from TIA in March while the number of Nepali arrivals stood at 44,607 and departures at 46,051 via TIA during the month.
Showing posts with label Global Crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Global Crisis. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Global crisis may render more women jobless
The global economic crisis is likely to push up the number of unemployed women to 22 million in 2009, the International Labour Office (ILO) has said in its annual Global Employment Trends for Women report (GET) that was released here today. it has warned that the global jobs crisis will become acute with the deepening of the recession in 2009.
At the same time, ILO also said that the global economic crisis would place new hurdles in the path towards sustainable and socially equitable growth, making decent employment opportunities for women increasingly meagre. ILO called for 'creative solutions' to address the gender gap.
It issued the Global Employment Trends for Women report in the run-up to this year*s annual International Women*s Day. The Global Employment Trends report indicates that of the three billion people employed around the world in 2008, 1.2 billion were women (40.4 per cent). It said that in 2009, the global unemployment rate for women could reach 7.4 per cent compared to seven per cent for men.
The report said that the gender impact of the economic crisis in terms of unemployment rates is expected to be more detrimental to females than to males in most regions of the world and most clearly in Latin America and the Caribbean.
It added that the only regions where unemployment rates are expected to be less detrimental to women are East Asia, developed economies and the non- EU South Eastern Europe and CIS which had narrower gender gaps in terms of job opportunities prior to the current economic crisis.
Labour market projections for 2009 show deterioration in global labour markets for both women and men. The ILO projected that the global unemployment rate could reach between 6.3 per cent and 7.1 per cent, with a corresponding female unemployment rate ranging from 6.5 to 7.4 per cent (compared to 6.1 per cent to seven per cent for men). This would result in an increase of between 24 million and 52 million people unemployed worldwide, of which from 10 million to 22 million would be women.
At the same time, ILO also projected that the global vulnerable employment rate would range from 50.5 to 54.7 per cent for women in 2009 and 47.2 and 51.8 per cent for men, indicating that while the burden of vulnerability was still greater for women, the crisis is pushing more men into vulnerable employment compared to 2007.
At the same time, ILO also said that the global economic crisis would place new hurdles in the path towards sustainable and socially equitable growth, making decent employment opportunities for women increasingly meagre. ILO called for 'creative solutions' to address the gender gap.
It issued the Global Employment Trends for Women report in the run-up to this year*s annual International Women*s Day. The Global Employment Trends report indicates that of the three billion people employed around the world in 2008, 1.2 billion were women (40.4 per cent). It said that in 2009, the global unemployment rate for women could reach 7.4 per cent compared to seven per cent for men.
The report said that the gender impact of the economic crisis in terms of unemployment rates is expected to be more detrimental to females than to males in most regions of the world and most clearly in Latin America and the Caribbean.
It added that the only regions where unemployment rates are expected to be less detrimental to women are East Asia, developed economies and the non- EU South Eastern Europe and CIS which had narrower gender gaps in terms of job opportunities prior to the current economic crisis.
Labour market projections for 2009 show deterioration in global labour markets for both women and men. The ILO projected that the global unemployment rate could reach between 6.3 per cent and 7.1 per cent, with a corresponding female unemployment rate ranging from 6.5 to 7.4 per cent (compared to 6.1 per cent to seven per cent for men). This would result in an increase of between 24 million and 52 million people unemployed worldwide, of which from 10 million to 22 million would be women.
At the same time, ILO also projected that the global vulnerable employment rate would range from 50.5 to 54.7 per cent for women in 2009 and 47.2 and 51.8 per cent for men, indicating that while the burden of vulnerability was still greater for women, the crisis is pushing more men into vulnerable employment compared to 2007.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Global crisis may hit Nepal, warns expert
With the global financial crisis having gripped the world by the short hairs, shortfall in remittance, dwindling budgetary support, real estate downturn and financial institution failures arising from a lack of the regulatory authority's timely intervention may lead to a crisis in Nepal.
According to an expert, "Innovative measures to combat financial institution failure may help insulate Nepal from the global financial crisis." "Over exposure of financial institutions to the real estate sector that has seen a 500 per cent rise in the last five years despite no new economic activities is an odd phenomenon," said Ravi Kumar Swami, a cost consultant and chartered accountant from India.
Though Nepal Ratra Bank has put a 10 per cent cap on the total loan portfolio of any bank, it still is huge in the context of Nepal, he said adding that the size of economy determines how resilient a country is. "Nepal also might feel the heat of the global financial crisis as Asia and particularly South Asia has started feeling it," he added.
According to a new report from Asian Development Bank (ADB), economic growth in developing Asia will slow to 5.8 per cent in 2009, down from a likely 6.9 per cent this year and nine per cent in 2007, as the impact of the global financial crisis spreads to emerging markets.
With the global economy facing a major downturn, the region's economic resilience will be tested by weakening exports and a sharp slowdown of private capital flows, according to the December issue of Asia Economic Monitor (AEM).
"The year 2009 is likely to be a difficult one for developing Asia but it will be manageable if countries respond decisively and collectively," Jong-Wha Lee, head of ADB's Office of Regional Economic Integration (OREI), said adding that swift action by policymakers to stem both the threat to the financial systems and the real economy would allow most of the region's economies to sustain a healthy if slower expansion.
AEM also recommends the region's authorities continue to improve regulation and overseeing of financial systems to strengthen transparency and accountability; enhance sound regulation and prudent overseeing; mitigate the procyclicality of financial markets; broaden and deepen financial markets to enhance resilience and reinforce cross-border cooperation.
According to a special note, "Developing Asia's Prospects in the Global Slowdown," also released by ADB today, South Asia is likely to reach 6.8 per cent growth this year and 6.1 per cent in 2009, down from 8.6 per cent in 2007.
ADB recommends policymakers step up their monitoring of local financial markets and have clear policies in place to deal with stressed institutions, provide adequate provisions of foreign and domestic liquidity so that credit continues to flow into the economy and consider a range of policies to contain the spillover effects of the worsening financial conditions and risks arising from weaker growth on regional banking systems.
According to an expert, "Innovative measures to combat financial institution failure may help insulate Nepal from the global financial crisis." "Over exposure of financial institutions to the real estate sector that has seen a 500 per cent rise in the last five years despite no new economic activities is an odd phenomenon," said Ravi Kumar Swami, a cost consultant and chartered accountant from India.
Though Nepal Ratra Bank has put a 10 per cent cap on the total loan portfolio of any bank, it still is huge in the context of Nepal, he said adding that the size of economy determines how resilient a country is. "Nepal also might feel the heat of the global financial crisis as Asia and particularly South Asia has started feeling it," he added.
According to a new report from Asian Development Bank (ADB), economic growth in developing Asia will slow to 5.8 per cent in 2009, down from a likely 6.9 per cent this year and nine per cent in 2007, as the impact of the global financial crisis spreads to emerging markets.
With the global economy facing a major downturn, the region's economic resilience will be tested by weakening exports and a sharp slowdown of private capital flows, according to the December issue of Asia Economic Monitor (AEM).
"The year 2009 is likely to be a difficult one for developing Asia but it will be manageable if countries respond decisively and collectively," Jong-Wha Lee, head of ADB's Office of Regional Economic Integration (OREI), said adding that swift action by policymakers to stem both the threat to the financial systems and the real economy would allow most of the region's economies to sustain a healthy if slower expansion.
AEM also recommends the region's authorities continue to improve regulation and overseeing of financial systems to strengthen transparency and accountability; enhance sound regulation and prudent overseeing; mitigate the procyclicality of financial markets; broaden and deepen financial markets to enhance resilience and reinforce cross-border cooperation.
According to a special note, "Developing Asia's Prospects in the Global Slowdown," also released by ADB today, South Asia is likely to reach 6.8 per cent growth this year and 6.1 per cent in 2009, down from 8.6 per cent in 2007.
ADB recommends policymakers step up their monitoring of local financial markets and have clear policies in place to deal with stressed institutions, provide adequate provisions of foreign and domestic liquidity so that credit continues to flow into the economy and consider a range of policies to contain the spillover effects of the worsening financial conditions and risks arising from weaker growth on regional banking systems.
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