Hotels in Sauraha are upgrading themselves even during peak tourist season as they have limited guests.
According to Regional Hotel Association Nepal (RHAN) Chitwan, more than half of its member hotels are upgrading themselves so that they can offer better service to visitors when the situation becomes normal. Officials of the association say hotel occupancy has dropped to around 25 to 30 percent.
Gyanendra Kumar Bista, president of RHAN Chitwan, said that more than 50 percent of hotels in Sauraha are utilizing this free time by either upgrading their rooms or decorating the building to make it more attractive. “I am upgrading some rooms of my hotel by taking loans with the hope that tourism will recover in spring next year,” Bista, who operates Hotel Rain Forest, told Republica.
Jungle Safari Lodge is also busy upgrading its rooms. “I have been spending my free time this season to upgrade rooms so that tourist gets better facility in the coming season,” Suman Ghimire, owner of Jungle Safari Lodge, said. He is investing Rs 5million to upgrade seven rooms.
Similarly, Keshav Pandey, managing director of Unique Wild Resort and Hotel Green Park, said he has been renovating rooms at his old property (Unique Wild Resort) and training staff of both the hotels. “Flow of tourists was recovering gradually after that April earthquake. But the unofficial blockade by India has relayed negative message that Nepal is not in a situation to welcome tourists. This has affected our tourism industry,” Pandey added.
Not only hotels and resorts, small shops on the banks of Rapti River are also utilizing free time by upgrading their facilities. Ambika Bhattarai, who runs a small shop at Rapti bank, is making a small restroom and a changing room for tourists. “Many tourists come to Rapti banks to enjoy elephant bath. But they are facing problem as there is no changing room at present,” Bhattarai said. “We want to facilitate them and also provide swimming costumes on rent.”
Until last year, Sauraha used to be full with domestic as well as foreign tourists at this time of year. However, hotel occupancy at present is only around 30 percent, according to RHAN.
Ghimire, who is also the first vice president of RHAN, said most of the hotels have sent their staff on rotational leave to reduce their operational cost.
Despite shortage of fuel and food commodities, local hotels have been serving lunch and dinner to guests by preparing food using firewood or heater. They, however, have been taking guests to nearby restaurants in case guests want to taste other dishes.
“We have been giving our best to tourists so that they can tell their friends and family that Nepal is still welcoming tourists,” added Bista.
Rebecca from Germany, who recently visited Sauraha, said they didn't experience any problem during their two nights stay in Sauraha. “We were amazed to get the best service here in Sauraha despite the crisis. Initially, we were worried that we won't get proper food and transportation facilities. But we are happy. They managed to provide us the best service possible with limited staff,” she added.
Hoteliers in Sauraha said that the government has not been able to send positive message to rest of the world that Nepal is still serving tourists and tourist destinations like Chitwan and Pokhara are waiting to serve the guests.
“The government should arrange dedicated feeder and sufficient petroleum products so that hotels and resorts can serve foreign guests even during crisis,” added Bista.
News: Myrepublica
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