Chitwan, October 27
Tourism business in Sauraha, Chitwan, has become busier in recent days.
Floods, landslides and road blockages have affected business for several months. Holidays and favourable weather have now increased the flow of domestic and foreign tourists to Sauraha.
Although domestic tourists did not arrive in the expected numbers in the early days of Dashain, arrivals have gradually risen significantly. Businesspeople say the increase has lifted spirits among hotels, restaurants and other tourism businesses here.
Gokarna Giri, who runs a tourism business in Sauraha, said entrepreneurs are excited as tourist activity has picked up in recent days. He said hotels and other tourism businesses have become busier since arrivals increased.
“All tourism entrepreneurs in Sauraha are happy now,” he said. “Some have gone shopping, some have gone to the jungle, some are out sightseeing. There is activity and bustle everywhere.”
Giri said the return of tourists has brought smiles back to entrepreneurs’ faces, adding that the number of guests has grown in recent days.
Lav Sapkota, manager of the Batika Resort in Sauraha, also said the arrival of domestic tourists in particular has increased during Dashain.
He said that, with the rise in guest numbers, work on managing rooms and bookings has become busier over the past few days.
According to him, all the resort’s rooms have been full for the past two to three days. He said Nepali tourists are more numerous during the festival season.
“It is very difficult to find rooms for the guests,” he said. “Management has become busier. Right now, most of the tourists are Nepali.”
Tourism entrepreneur Rishi Tiwari said arrivals after Dashain Tika have been better this time than last year. He said public holidays and the festival season have increased tourist activity in Sauraha.
He said jeep safaris, elephant safaris, boat rides on the Rapti River and Tharu cultural dances are the main attractions for tourists visiting Sauraha.
Saying the current weather is favourable for visiting Sauraha, he urged domestic and foreign tourists to visit.
“In my experience, guests are coming to Sauraha in better numbers this time than last year,” he said. He said this has given tourism entrepreneurs great relief and fresh enthusiasm.
Suman Ghimire, former chair of the Hotel Association Nepal, Chitwan, said tourist arrivals have increased at tourist destinations including Sauraha during the Dashain holidays. According to him, the number of foreign tourists has risen this time along with domestic ones.
“It has added to our enthusiasm,” he said. “In recent days, we have found good numbers of tourists in tourist areas including Sauraha.”
He said natural disasters, including the Bhotekoshi flood, delayed the start of the main tourism season by about one month.
He said that although tourist bookings were affected by floods, landslides and road conditions, arrivals have started to rise in recent days.
Sauraha is one of the main entrances to Chitwan National Park. It is known as the main place for tourists to stay when visiting the park and the buffer-zone community forests around it.
-RSS
