Hotels and resorts of Sauraha, Meghauli, Patihani and Amaltari have not suffered any damage from the earthquake, but they were without tourists in the aftermath of the April 25 earthquake due to hyped reports in the foreign media about the earthquake. But of late tourism entrepreneurs have heaved a sigh of relief because of the visitors from quake affected areas."We now have a few guests at our hotel," said Madhav Duwadi, owner of Hotel Seven Star at Sauraha. "They comprise mostly families from Kathmandu Valley."
According to the hoteliers, some of the visitors have cancelled their planned weddings in Kathmandu and have come to Sauraha for the events. Likewise, Sauraha has recently become the venue for conducting trainings and seminars.
Foreign media reports about the earthquake had caused sharp drop in the number of visitors to Sauraha, according to Gyanendra Bista, president of Regional Hotel Association (RHA), Sauraha. "However, some visitors will take positive message back to their places," he said.
Sauraha receives thousands of tourists every year and they visit Chitwan National Pak to watch the world's rare wild animals like tigers and rhinos.
"Only after we disseminate reports stating that Sauraha is completely safe that the number of visitors will rise," Bista added.
Apart from Chitwan, other tourist destinations including Pokhara, Lumbini and Janakpur, which are relatively unaffected by the earthquake have also seen sharp decline in the number of visitors following the earthquakes. Tourism entrepreneurs have blamed immature media reports for their suffering.
Meanwhile, local entrepreneurs have started providing special discounts to attract internal visitors.
"We have provided discounts of up to 40 percent in the accommodation at Sauraha hotels," said Suman Ghimire, the first vice president of RHA.
He added that hotels and other local tourism entrepreneurs are discussing launching a special package to attract more domestic visitors to Chitwan.
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