POKHARA, Jan 1: Thanks to the ongoing Pokhara Street Festival (Dec 28-Jan 1), an overwhelming rush of domestic tourists has left hundreds of hotels in the lake city overly occupied.
Apart from the lakeside, hotels in the main market are also full of people. Tourism entrepreneurs said this is the first time throughout the year that there is such an overflow of bookings. According to them, the pressure started building up from Wednesday - the first day of the street festival. [break]
The two five-star hotels in Pokhara - Fulbari Resort and Pokhara Grande - are also fully occupied. It has been extremely difficult to get accommodation in hotels after thousands of people from other cities started gathering in Pokhara for the New Year celebrations. According to entrepreneurs, over 80 percent of the rooms in their hotels are occupied by domestic tourists. The number of Indian tourists is higher this time around than last year.
Hundreds of visitors arriving from Biratnagar, Chitwan, Nepalgunj, Kathmandu can be seen searching for rooms. Most visitors coming in groups but without prior bookings have to make do with single room with additional beds.
Chairman of Regional Hotel Association of Nepal (REHAN) Biplav Paudel said the average occupancy at the hotels is 95 percent till Friday and people from the capital and the nearby districts are still arriving.
There are 455 tourist-class hotels in Pokhara out of which 255 are members of REHAN. Paudel said total capacity of the hotels under REHAN is 13,000 beds. Similarly, it is estimated that other 200 hotels which are not members of REHAN have around 7,000 rooms and 12,000 beds.
Binod Shrestha of Chitwan´s Ratnanagar who came to Pokhara on Friday with five family members was planning to return after he couldn´t find hotel rooms. Later, after much effort, Shrestha managed to find two rooms in Damside. Similarly, Raju Khadka of Dhadingbesi who came to Pokhara had to stay in a single room at one of the hotels at Prithwichowk along with six others in his group.
But those who have found a hotel room, Pokhara is endless fun and partying. Celebrations are reaching their crescendo and the lakeside stalls are adding the fairytale touch to the entire ambience.
Former President of REHAN and owner of Butterfly Lodge Gobinda Raj Pahadi said dozen of tourists left the city disappointed after they couldn´t find rooms. "Almost all the hotels are fully occupied because of the rush," he said. The 42-room Butterfly Lodge is fully occupied till Sunday. He said more than 70 percent of the guests at his hotel are Nepali and paying up to Rs 4,000 per room. He further said guests are paying full tariff because of the pressure.
Fulbari Resort, which has 165 rooms, is fully occupied for the last three days. Except for some Chinese, Japanese and Korean tourists, other guests at the hotels are all Nepali. The resort had earlier announced a special package of Rs 6,999 per person targeting domestic tourists. Puspa Raj Chalise, Sales and Marketing Executive of the hotel, said the package includes accommodation for two nights and three days on twin-sharing basis and a gala dinner.
Hotel Barahi, which has 85 rooms, is completely occupied for last some days. Around 80 percent of the total guests at the hotel are Nepali. Operation Manager of the hotel Rajkumar K.C said the hotel has witnessed a 100 percent occupancy form Wednesday to Sunday.