Nepal · Pokhara
Google and Meta campaigns managed in person from our Lakeside office, built around Pokhara's seasonal tourism demand and lower-competition local market.
In Pokhara, performance marketing usually means combining Google Ads (to catch people actively searching, like "hotels in Pokhara") with Meta Ads (to reach travelers before they start searching) and tracking both back to actual bookings, not clicks. Arcetis runs this work from its Lakeside office with the same clients it meets in person, and has managed $200K+ in Google and $70K+ in Meta ad spend across tourism, retail, and service businesses.
Pokhara's advertising market is smaller and less contested than Kathmandu's, which is actually an advantage for performance marketing: cost per click is lower, so a given budget buys more data and more conversions, and a well-run account can meaningfully outperform competitors who are not running paid ads correctly or at all. The trade-off is that demand is seasonal -- tourism season (roughly September through November and March through May) and the slower monsoon months need different budgets, not the same flat spend year-round.
Because we are based here, Pokhara is the one market where we can sit across the table from a client, look at their actual booking calendar or shop traffic, and adjust the campaign in the same conversation. That matters most for seasonal timing -- knowing to push budget up two to three weeks before the autumn trekking season starts, not after bookings have already begun, and knowing which weeks to pull back rather than keep spending at peak-season levels into a quiet month.
Google Ads catches demand that already exists -- someone searching "trekking agency Pokhara" or "best momo Lakeside" has already decided they want that category, and the ad just needs to win the click. This works well for businesses with clear, searchable intent: hotels, restaurants, rental shops, clinics.
Meta Ads do the opposite job -- they create interest in people who were not actively searching, which matters for Pokhara because a large share of potential customers (future trekkers, honeymooners, paragliding customers) are not searching for Pokhara yet when they would be receptive to seeing it. We typically recommend both channels together for tourism-facing businesses, and Google alone for businesses selling to people who are already local and already searching.
We build Pokhara campaigns around a seasonal calendar rather than a flat monthly number. A trekking agency or rafting operator usually needs budget rising from late August, peaking through the autumn season, dropping through winter, rising again into spring, and pulling back hard during the monsoon when tourist numbers fall sharply.
Non-tourism Pokhara businesses -- clinics, retail, services aimed at residents -- do not need this seasonal swing and are better served by a steadier monthly budget focused on consistent lead flow. We ask about your actual business cycle before proposing a budget shape, rather than applying a tourism curve to every Pokhara client by default.
It works for small businesses too, often better, because Pokhara's lower competition means a modest budget still produces visible results. A rental shop or small guesthouse can get meaningful bookings from a correctly targeted, well-tracked campaign.
Yes, our office is in Lakeside and we meet Pokhara clients directly, which is useful for reviewing seasonal plans and actual booking data together rather than over email.
Ideally two to three weeks before demand rises, so the campaign has time to gather data and optimize before the season's peak. Starting once the season has already begun means you miss the early bookings.
It varies with room count and goals, but we will give you an honest number after seeing your current booking volume and off-season needs, rather than a generic recommendation that ignores your season.