Main tourist village of Kaski get increase visitors

POKHARA, Nov 16: The main tourist village of Kaski has started to see a rush of visitors. After Dashain-Tihar, the activity of tourists in Ghandruk, Sikles, Tangting, Dhampus, Lwangghale and other villages of Kaski started to increase.

People who come to visit Pokhara today do not want to be limited to Pokhara. Their choice is the surrounding villages and thumkas. Tourists who have taken comfortable facilities in Pokhara's well-equipped hotels have reached the village and started enjoying the hospitality and natural beauty there.

Amrit Gurung, a local businessman, informed that more than 2,000 tourists visit the tourist village of Ghandruk every day. He said that after the village, which was closed for tourists during the Coronavirus, was opened from October 1 last year, the process of visiting guests started. He informed that more tourists have reached Ghandruk this year.

He said, "On Friday and Saturday, hotels and homestays in Ghandruk were all full. Therefore, if you are coming to visit Ghandruk, I request you to come only with advance notice.” Around 2,300 tourists arrived there on Friday. He informed that 2,000 of them were living. He said that the remaining 300 guests were forced to return without accommodation.

Vikram Gurung, Chairman of Ghandruk Tourism Management Committee informed that there are around 50 hotels and 20 homestays to accommodate guests in Ghandruk. He said that it can be managed in as many as 10 houses when there are many guests. Chairman Gurung informed that only 2000 guests can be accommodated in 70-80 hotels and homestays in a day.

Devijung Gurung, Ward President of Madi Rural Municipality-1 informed that 1,000 tourists also arrive in Sikles, another tourist village of Kaski. "There are 15 hotels that can accommodate up to 50-60 people in Sikles, there are 27 unregistered homestays", he said. Everyone is packed now.” Gurung said that the same number of tourists are arriving in Tangting, a village near Sikles.

Pomnarayan Shrestha, chairman of Pokhara Tourism Council, informed that while houses are full in rural areas, there are not as many tourists in Pokhara as expected. "Recently, the number of domestic tourists has increased along with foreigners. This has raised hope among businessmen", he said, "but it has not increased as we thought. Now how far will it go? If this sequence continues for twelve months, the tourism sector will be boosted.

He urged the government to build the road to Pokhara as soon as possible. "Building a road is a good thing for us, but while the road is being built, the government should also build an alternative road", he said. Hotel association Pokhara also said that tourists did not come to Pokhara as expected.

Lakshman Subedi, President of Hotel Association Pokhara Nepal, said that the occupancy rate of hotels in Pokhara is around 20 to 30 percent. "Recent times have raised some hopes", he said, "some hotels have 50% occupancy, some have 10-20% occupancy, so the average occupancy is 20-22%."

Subedi said that although there was 60-70 percent occupancy at the time of the 9th National Games, it has decreased recently. He remembered the past that before Corona, there was a situation where you had to pay for a room without getting a room. He informed that there are 425 hotels associated with the association, while the same number of hotels that are not associated with the association are in Pokhara.