Tourism feels punch of political uncertainty

Tourism feels punch of political uncertainty
eKantipur.com, 8-Oct-07
BY KUL CHANDRA NEUPANE

Although travel trade entrepreneurs witnessed a record number of bookings from tourists this season, they lamented that the latest political uncertainty is badly affecting the actual turn out of visiotrs.

According to information provided by local hoteliers, some 50 percent of the bookings have been cancelled following the recent explosions in Kathmandu, frequent bandas, strikes and political uncertianty.

Most of the cancellations have been recorded for the month of October, and entrepreneurs said the cancellation of Constituent Assembly election could make the situation unsatifactory in November and December as well.

This is the season when Pokhara welcomes the maximum number of European and Japanese tourists.

“We had actually been over booked. If the tourist turn-out had equalled what had been booked, Pokhara would have found it difficult handle them all,” said Raj Kumar KC, manager at Shangrila Village Resort. Talking to the Post, he said that the resort had received 30 percent more booking requests than its total capacity for October. However, the actual occupancy barely stands at about 60 percent now.

Office bearers of the Regional Hotel Association said that hotels in Pokhara had received overwhelming booking requests this season compared to the last five years. The record bookings had even spurred new investment in the tourism sector.

Entrepreneurs had rennovated their service units for the first time in five years while hoteliers that had pulled down shutters had bounced back to the business.

Blue Bird had recently resumed its services, upgrading itself as a five star hotel with a new name - Grand Pokhara. Begnas Resort and dozens of other hotels in Lakeside in Pokhara had also resumed operations. Likewise, more than two dozen hotels and restaurants had upgraded their standard and capacity.

“I invested hundreds of thousand of rupees and added rooms to tap the increased bookings,” said Biplav Paudel, promoter of Barahi Hotel. “But the continuous cancellation of bookings has cut down all the zeal and expectations I had,” he added.

Barahi increased the number of rooms to 32 from 24. He had added eight deluxe rooms considering the business of this season. Officials of the association said, tourist class hotels in Pokhara had added 200 rooms targeting tourists for the season. “Sadly, more than 50 percent of my customers have cancelled their bookings,” said Tika Paudel, promoter of Shikhar Hotel.

Manager of Fulbari Resort Maheshwor Raj Bhandari said that the number of tourist arrivals in Pokhara has not increased, even though Nepal Tourist Board's (NTB's) data shows a good growth in tourist arrival figures. For October, Fulbari had received bookings for over 200 rooms. “But, we are operating with just a 45 percent occupancy,” said Bhandari. He elaborated that the chances of witnessing a sound growth in tourist arrivals were slim in the days ahead mainly due to the recent political upheavals. Acording to an estimate, 25 percent of the tourists that land in Kathmandu travel to Pokhara.

The entrepreneurs said as the American and Japanese embassies had came up with more stringent travel advisories after the recent bomb blasts in the capital, the tourists had deterred traveling to Nepal.

Major hotels like Shangli-la, Fulbari, Fishtail, and Barahi had 70 percent booking a month earlier. “If the booking was growing coninioulsy, tourists would have had a hard time finding rooms here,” said Paudel. “But, things went otherwise.”