Pokhara Metropolitan City, with the support of Nepal Urban Resilience Programe (NURP) and Cycle City Pokhara (CCP), has identified a lake-to-lake cycle route of 85km which connects 9 of 10 lakes and 18 out of 33 wards of PMC. The main objective of identifying and promoting the lake-to-lake cycle route is to help revive tourism activities in Pokhara through enhancing the length of stay of the tourists, as well as to aid the local communities to reap economic benefits and to contribute to green economic growth. To have a complete and dedicated lake-to-lake cycle route is also one of the long-term visions of PMC.
The lake-to-lake cycle route is a Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID) initiative as it promotes green mobility, helps to improve the resilience of tourism industry and contributes to build a diverse and inclusive local economy. The lake-to-lake cycle route is a part of leisure tourism that helps to reduce burning of fuel by commuters and to promote eco-tourism as well as facilitate rural urban linkages. Similarly, it aids to strengthen Pokhara’s tourism industry by enhancing the number of visitors and their stay and helps build community resilience of the neighbouring cycle route settlements by the provision of improved income opportunities. The cycle route will also provide special considerations to places and spots where women and marginalized communities can get more benefits from various tourism avenues and thus, can be better mainstreamed into regular markets.
