Hoteliers demand not to stay tourists in monasteries of Lumbini

LUMBINI, March 15:Lumbini hoteliers have demanded a ban on staying tourists in monasteries within the Lumbini Development Trust area.

The Lumbini Hotel Association of Nepal sent a memorandum to the Lumbini Development Trust on Tuesday, demanding concrete measures toward a lasting solution within 7 days.

Gobind Gyawali, the association's president, stated that the hotel industry was in difficulty because monasteries were competing with hotels for tourists.

"Hundreds of rooms in monasteries have been built to accommodate tourists; the places called monasteries have become a place of business, not a model of Buddhist spirituality and Buddhist spirit," Gyawali stated. "Such work against the spirit of the master plan has been protected by the person in charge of the Lumbini Development Trust. It should be stopped indefinitely.

He states that, despite pushing this demand for decades, the situation has become unpleasant, and businessmen's patience has run out.

Gyawali stated that more than ten hotels in the Lumbini area have been permanently shuttered as a result of tourists being housed in monasteries, and that more hotels will close this year.

Purushottam Aryal, the association's general secretary, claimed that operating monasteries as hotels had damaged the hotel business.

The memorandum presented by the association to Lumbini Development Trust Treasurer Dhundiraj Bhattarai has been forwarded to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, Minister of Culture and Civil Aviation, and Trust Chairman Hit Bahadur Tamang.

Treasurer Bhattarai acknowledged the memorandum and stated that the businessmen's demands were valid and needed to be addressed in some way.