Chitwan. Chitwan: The hotel business in Chitwan has collapsed due to the delay in upgrading the Butwal-Narayanghat road section of the East-West Highway connecting western Nepal with the federal capital Kathmandu. Hotels around the Butwal-Narayanghat road section and hoteliers of Sauraha, known as the country’s major tourist destination, have also been affected due to non-completion of upgradation work within the stipulated deadline.
The affected hoteliers have urged the government of Nepal and the concerned contractors to complete the ongoing road upgradation work as soon as possible as the hoteliers of Sauraha have been directly affected by the fact that indian tourists, who are a major part of Nepal’s tourism industry, have been deprived of visiting the tourist places of Chitwan.
Chitwan: The Regional Hotel Association Chitwan (HAN) has expressed its concerned concerned contractors for not showing promptness in completing the upgradation work of the road despite repeated extensions and has drawn the attention of the stakeholders to complete the construction work on priority. In this context, the Government of Nepal has repeatedly urged to complete the upgradation work as soon as possible by absorbing the pain, sorrow and suffering faced by thousands of people using the road section, but the work has not been done as expected.
Tourism expert Dr Bishwa Subedi has suggested that the construction of butwal-Narayanghat road should be given priority in view of the fact that the overall economic activities, including the hotel business of Chitwan, have been affected in the recent days due to the increase in the number of vehicles going to Pokhara using Siddhartha Highway.
According to the Regional Hotel Association Chitwan, most of the Indian tourists visiting Nepal through the western border points including Sunauli and Rupedia with a certain package first visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha. Dr Subedi, who is also the advisor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City, drew the attention of the concerned parties to address the demands of hoteliers in chitwan and surrounding areas who are facing difficulties after Indian tourists with financial status could afford to visit Pokhara via Butwal-Palpa-Syangja.
Om Pandey, who started his tourism business from Pokhara and is currently the chairman of HAN, said that chitwan’s tourism business was in crisis as he returned to Pokhara after visiting Muktinath after completing his visit to pokhara and requested to complete the upgradation of Butwal-Narayanghat road section as soon as possible. According to him, while coming to Kathmandu under the ‘Tour Package’, Indian tourists also visit the famous Manakamana Mai in Gorkha by riding a cable car.
Due to the relatively expensive airfare from Kathmandu to Bharatpur, most of the roads connecting Chitwan with the Prithvi Highway have been damaged due to the heavy year last year, due to the banking policy, some hotels keep tourists at a much cheaper rate than expected due to the banking policy, due to the anti-business activities such as bandh-strike and agitation. Ramesh Silwal, a young hotel and tourism entrepreneur, said that the business of Sauraha has been affected due to their deprivation from visiting the tourist area.
According to Tourism Entrepreneur Silwal, most of the Indian tourists entering Nepal from different borders of western Nepal travel to Kathmandu by visiting various religious and tourist places of Nepal.
They like to shop in ‘China Town’ including Basantapur area by visiting the temples of Mahadev at Pashupatinath, Guheshwori, Bouddha, Budhanilkantha and Sanga in Kathmandu. Tourism youth entrepreneur Silwal said that most of the Indian tourists, except for the exception of visiting Kathmandu, have started using the Pokhara-Butwal road route as before, instead of returning through the Narayanghat-Butwal road section.
Dipendra Khatiwada, former president of Restaurant and Bar Association Sauraha, who has played a significant role in the development, expansion and promotion of the hotel business in Sauraha, said that the upgradation of butwal-Narayanghat road section will not be completed, the tendency of collecting money from vehicles carrying Indian tourists will not be reduced and controlled, anti-business activities such as protests, agitations, processions, sit-ins under various pretexts will not be encouraged, electricity supply with AC and fan-operating capacity in hotels will not be ensured. He said that the tourism business of Chitwan, including Sauraha, would collapse if proper attention was not paid to the rearing and management of elephants established as the identity of Chitwan during the jungle safari.
Stating that jeep safaris with 44 elephants from the private sector are currently arranged in Bagmara, Chitrasen, Kuchkuche, Janakauli and Kumroz community forests, Khatiwada, who is also the chairman of United Elephant Cooperative Society Sauraha, said, “The interest of tourists visiting Sauraha, known as the major tourist destination of the country, is to ride on elephants and do jungle safaris. It is a matter of regret that there is no clear policy on parenting and management yet. On the one hand, there is no need to pay the interest rate of the bank due to the lack of hotel business in recent days as per the investment, while on the other hand, many rumors are being spread in the name of ‘animal rights’ at the behest of the anti-tourism business group. In spite of such uncomfortable circumstances and challenges, the attention of the government needs to be paid to the businessmen who are contributing to the tourism sector by rearing elephants. ’
According to sauraha-based tourism entrepreneurs, Indian drivers have been pleading with the government to end the trend of extorting money and causing misery by the police deployed on the road by raising many trivial issues including vehicle license, light, wi-far and brake condition and the number of passengers. In recent times, they have demanded that the demand for money from Indian drivers has decreased and they should be stopped completely.
According to Silwal, sauraha has the highest number of tourists visiting sauraha between Dussehra and Tihar, especially during the peak summer season in India, there is a significant presence of Indian tourists in the months of June to June, a negligible number of Chinese tourists are seen after the corona infection in Sauraha, which is usually full during the Chinese New Year, tourists from western countries who have the capacity to spend also come to visit Sauraha in the name of various programs. According to the schedule of private schools in various cities of the country, including the capital Kathmandu, the tourism business of Jenten Sauraha has been run on the basis of students coming on educational tours, members of consumers and cooperative-related organizations and Nepalis coming during family visits.
Sauraha, a tourist hub located in the middle of the country, currently has 3,500 rooms in 145 small and big hotels, 20 hotels have invested Rs 500 million in terms of infrastructure and facilities, and more than 2,000 Nepalis have got employment. It has requested the government for arrangements.
Stating that Indian tourists, especially from mumbai, Kolkata and other urban areas, visit Sauraha, tourism entrepreneur Silwal said, “Even today, 8-10 Indian tourist targeted hotels in Sauraha are full, but such hotels have spoiled the rate charged by the hotel by charging a maximum of Rs 2,500 per room. In this way, they may have some compulsion to give rooms cheaply, which creates a situation of unhealthy competition. In the end, there is a fear that the entire hotel business will collapse. ’
Tourism entrepreneurs have drawn the attention of the government to address the demands of tourism entrepreneurs as the upgradation work of Narayanghat-Butwal road section is getting longer, the journey of Prithvi Highway is not reliable, air fare up to Bharatpur will not be reduced, bank interest rate will not be subsidized targeting debt-ridden businessmen, hotel-business friendly act and law are not implemented.
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