Chitwan. Deepak Bhattarai, who has been doing business in sauraha for the last 25 years, has never seen a deserted Sauraha like this rainy season. This is his first experience of not receiving foreign tourists despite the decrease in tourism activities with the rain.
Bhattarai, the outgoing president of the Regional Hotel Association, said that only 5 to 10 percent of the hotels have occupancy at present. On Friday and Saturday, it reached around 10 percent, but on other days it has come down to 5 percent. According to him, around 30 percent of the tourists used to visit this season in the past years.
Most of the hotels have given leave to their employees due to lack of tourists. Bhattarai, who owns Chitwan Forest Resort, said, “Currently, only 25 per cent of the employees are working. Indian, Chinese and domestic tourists visit Sauraha even during the rainy season, but it is difficult for Indian tourists to come through the surface route from Bhairahawa, the main transit point for Indian tourists, he said.
Giridhari Chaudhary, who has been involved in the tourism sector since 2033 BS, said that the number of tourists has decreased due to the economic slowdown. According to him, the road coming from Kathmandu and Butwal has become uncomfortable and the air traffic has also been irregular.
Tourists come to Sauraha to visit the park and surrounding areas by jeeps, pedestrians, elephants, boat safaris and forests and wildlife. Chitwan: The Chitwan National Park (CNP) has stopped jeep safari. Sauraha has around 150 hotels. More than 6,000 people are employed in these hotels with more than 8,000 beds.
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