Some two dozen hotels in the village are operating full house and some of the entrepreneurs even said they have been accommodating visitors in local houses, as the number of visitors unexpectedly soared toward the end of tourist season.
“This has proved the best year for me in terms of business,” said Tila Bahadur Gurung, a hotelier who is in the business for the last 37 years. Gurung, who runs Peaceful Hotel, acknowledges that tourist arrivals in Ghandruk have been growing since the political parties signed peace accord in 2006. “But it was never like this before,” he told myrepublica.com.
Unlike the past, Tila Bahadur witnessed cent percent occupancy in his 22-room hotel throughout the season. And even after the end of the season, he still has arranged a house in the village to accommodate additional visitors.
Kisam Gurung, another hotelier enjoying cent percent occupancy, attributed the good business to rise in number of both foreign and domestic tourists during the season and its aftermath. He also attributed rise in number of visitors at his ´Gurung Cottage´ to the facility he recently started, whereby clients can book rooms through internet. He is operating the service using sky-phone. “This has enabled visitors to know about my service and also facilitated me to secure clients throughout the season,” said Kisam.
Owing to the prior booking, he, however, has been forced to send the visitors who turn up directly at the hotel to accommodate at some other place. “I am sorry, but I already have clients who booked the rooms months ago,” Kisam was explaining his problems to two Korean visitors when Republica caught him on Monday. Because of the facility it offers, Gurung Cottage is considered as the best hotel in Ghandruk. It is the only hotel in the village where rooms can be booked online.
Ghandruk is home to about two dozen hotels, which together can accommodate about 200 visitors a night. However, entrepreneurs said they received as much as 300 visitors a day in the recently concluded season.
“Good thing is that tourists are visiting Ghandruk even after the end of the season,” said Kisam.
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