POKHARA, Sept 12: The hotels in the Annapurna base camp area that have been closed for a long time due to the coronavirus infection, will be reopened from mid-September. Local business people are preparing to open the hotels in Ghandruk, the entrance to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC)) from September 17. ABC's hotels will be open from 20th September.

Chairman of Ghandruk Tourism Management Committee, Kisam Gurung said that the hotels in Ghandruk will start welcoming guests from September 17. “The touring season has begun and the COVID-19 infection has decreased as well,” said Gurung.

He also said that all hotels including those in Ghandruk, Ghorepani, Tadhapani, Chomrong and ABC will be opened by mid-September. “Every tourism destination is opening slowly for the public. Thus, if the hotels in the Annapurna area are closed, the guests who want to come here may be diverted elsewhere,”

When all the destinations are open, the message will be bad if the hotels in the Annapurna region are not open," he said. The guests who want to come here may be diverted elsewhere,” Gurung said. “Thus, we have decided to open the hotels.”

According to him, all hotel workers have been called to return to work. Some internal guests have even started going for treks and they have queries about the hotels in the Annapurna area. Also, the weather in the ABC area has been clear for the last three days.

Business person Bhim Pun of Ghorepani, a tourist village in the Annapurna region, also said that preparations are being made to open his hotel ‘Hungry Eye Hotel’ on September 17. However, there are no workers even though he is preparing to open the hotel. “We are calling our workers back to work as the arrival of domestic tourists is increasing,” he said.

Secretary of the Chomrong Tourism Entrepreneurs Committee, Dilip Gurung also said that preparations have been made to make the trekking area busy. He said that hotels in ABC, Machhapuchhre Base Camp (MBC) and other areas which have been empty for months will soon be opened. “As hotels have been closed for months, we will not be able to provide service to our guests instantly. But we are preparing to open them soon,” he said. There are 62 hotels from Chomrong to ABC.

He also said that he was ready to continue his business even when he is not vaccinated against COVID-19. “The tourism season has started and the weather has improved too. Thus, internal guests will increase,” Gurung said. He said that he is optimistic about the influx of internal tourists as the corona cases have decreased. 

 
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