NIRANJAN SHRESTHA/KANTIPUR

After a hopeful spring season, Nepal's tourism is headed for a slump as cautious tour agents cancel Nepal holidays for fear of politics spilling out into the streets ahead of the 28 May deadline for the constitution.

Hotels report cancellations of confirmed bookings and governments have started issuing travel advisories to citizens bound for Nepal. The tourism industry says it has been betrayed by the political parties on whose assurance they had spent millions in promoting 2011 as Nepal Tourism Year. Political parties blame ethnic activist groups for the strikes. Meanwhile, hope is fading that tourism could help kick-start a stagnant economy.

Wednesday's strike in the capital may have been a sign of things to come, and pundits expect tensions to escalate. Making things worse is the fragility of Prime Minister Jhalnath Khanal's UML-Maoist coalition, which has fed the public perception that no one is in charge.

Yet, Nepal's tourism potential is vast and still untapped. Trekking and adventure tourism has been the mainstay of the industry and careful promotion for the autumn season could still make 2011 a bonanza year, injecting tourism income directly into the village economy.

Says New Zealand professor of tourism, David Simmons: "Political stability is significant in providing a secure platform for tourism development, strikes like the one on Wednesday don't help."

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