Beyond 30 minutes

The goal must be to transform Lumbini from an optional stop for cultural travellers into a compelling destination.

For decades, Nepal has peddled a paradox at the birthplace of Buddha. Lumbini is marketed as the ultimate spiritual destination while presiding over a tourism model that is as ephemeral as a passing cloud. It is a stinging indictment of Nepal’s national planning that while the average foreign tourist spends 12 days exploring the rest of Nepal, they barely spare 30 minutes for Lumbini. The ‘hit-and-run’ tourism that defines this UNESCO World Heritage site is a missed economic opportunity and a systemic failure of vision.