Chitwan, 4 January: On the eve of the English New Year, notices of no rooms could be seen at the gates of hotels from the morning. By noon, most of the hotels would be full. In the evening, those looking for a room would have to return because they could not find one. Hotels in every corner of Sauraha would be full.
This year, the situation was different. Although tourists arrived in Sauraha, it was not as crowded as in the past. There used to be a good presence of tourists in hotels from two days before to two days after the New Year. Suman Ghimire, former president of the Regional Hotel Association, who has been directly involved in the tourism business for the past 14 years, says that this year, the least tourists came on New Year’s Eve since he took up the profession. According to the businessman, more than 80 percent of the rooms were not filled this year.
According to Ghimire, the decrease in tourist arrivals is due to the road network. Tourists coming from Kathmandu were stopped because the highway was closed during the day. Similarly, those coming from Pokhara and Butwal seemed reluctant to come because the road was not easy. Ghimire says, “The economic slowdown along with the road and the lack of new programs here must have caused the decrease in tourists.”
Although the elephant festival was held a few days ago, there was no major event on New Year’s Day. He said that although the number of domestic tourists returning from their evening walks in the Sauraha area was good, the number of people staying at hotels has decreased.
Hotel Jungle Crown General Manager Santosh Giri believes that the decrease in family outings is also due to children’s exams. He said that although the hotels where the program was held were full of tourists, many hotels have complained about the lack of guests. He said that there has been a decrease in tourists this year compared to previous years.
The main choice of tourists visiting Sauraha is jungle safari. Dipendra Khatiwada, chairman of the United Elephant Operators Cooperative, which has been conducting elephant safaris, says that the number of tourists has also decreased in the new year. Recalling that in previous years, an elephant used to take tourists around the jungle five times, he said that this year, it has barely done three trips. He said, “In the past, even when an elephant took tourists around the jungle five times, many would return without getting their turn.” According to him, it can be estimated that less than 25 percent of tourists have visited Sauraha this year.
Regional Hotel Association General Secretary Gunaraj Thapaliya says that the decrease in tourists is due to road network, economic recession, and children’s exams. He said, “Some roads are under construction, some are closed, there is no air service, where will tourists come from?” He said that the general public is also in the grip of the economic recession, which has led to a decrease in tourism.
There are 160 hotels in Sauraha. Those hotels can accommodate 6,500 tourists. Only about 80 percent are full, says Thapaliya. He said, “Earlier, hotels should have been full by noon and notices should have been posted, but this did not happen this year.” He said that 80 percent of those who came were Nepali and the rest were from India and third countries. Tourists come to Chitwan National Park and the Intermediate Community Forest for jeep, boat, and elephant safaris.
