March 21: The hotel business that was badly affected by the Covid-19 is gradually returning back to normalcy. The occupancy of hotels in the Kathmandu valley as well as other tourist destinations has started to improve.

According to hoteliers, their business is gradually improving. Hotel occupancy, which fell to 5 percent during the surge of the Covid-19 pandemic, has risen to 35 percent.

Shreejana Rana, president of the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN), said that the situation at present has improved compared to the past. She said that the hotel sector has become active due to domestic and Indian tourists.

"The Ukraine-Russia war has made the arrival of European tourist uncertain," Rana said. She said that the government should give more priority to identifying tourist destinations and their marketing.

Rana stressed on the need for training to provide a better environment to the Indian tourists. She urged the authorities to set up  “Namaste Desks” in the border areas to facilitate Indian tourists. Sajan Shakya, executive director of Kathmandu Prince Hotel and general secretary of HAN, informed that the occupancy of hotels has increased on an average.

He noted that the hotel business has improved in February and March compared to the last month of 2021 and the beginning of January 2022. "March and April are also tourist seasons," said Shakya. "This season, the number of tourists coming for trekking is on the rise. He said that the tourists are interested in trekking and adventure activities.

Similarly, Bikal Tulachan, president of HAN's Pokhara chapter, said that although the occupancy rate could not improve significantly due to the reduction in night stay, tourism activities have increased overall. He said that the presence of domestic tourists was significant while the number of foreign tourists has also increased to some extent.

At present, the number of tourists arriving from European countries is low, he said. According to him, even though the occupancy rate of hotels in Pokhara is 10 percent, arrival of tourists is improving. Businessmen in the Bhairahawa area of ​​Rupandehi said that tourism activities have increased due to the presence of Indian tourists.

CP Shrestha, president of Siddhartha Hotel Association of Nepal, said that the improvement in the arrival of Indian tourists and the influx of tourists due to various project works have improved the business of hotels.

He said that the occupancy rate of hotels is at least 25 to 30 percent at present. Similarly, up to 15 percent of booking has been done from Maharashtra and other states of India, he said. Arrival of tourists has almost doubled in February 2022 compared to the period of Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Nepal Tourism Board, a total of 36,741 tourists from 33 countries visited Nepal in the first two months of 2022.