KATHMANDU, March 3: A dozen new star hotels have been added during the last one year with investors pouring money into the hospitality industry in anticipation of a surge in foreign tourist arrivals.

According to the Department of Tourism, 12 new star hotels and three new resorts have come into operation in the last 11 months. Radhika Giri, the officer of the Hotel Branch of the Department of Tourism, said that a total of 15 well-equipped hotels have been registered from April 2022 to February 2023.

There are 5 four-star hotels among the new hotels in operation. Among them are Hotel Dialo in Birgunj, Parsa, Ratna Hotel in Biratnagar, Thamel Plaza Hotel and Suites in Thamel, Hotel Arion in Sunwal, Nawalparasi and Asian Hotel in Rupandehi.

Of them, Hotel Ratna has been upgraded from three stars to four stars, while the rest of the hotels are all new. According to the statistics of the hotel branch of the Department of Tourism, 17 five-star hotels and 27 four-star hotels have been registered and are in operation till 2078 BS. With this, the number of four-star hotels has reached 32 in the country.

By February this year, a total of two three-star hotels have been registered which are Nepalirica Hotel in Sundar Haraincha and Gautam Buddha Airport Hotel in Rupandehi. With this, the number of three-star hotels has reached 37. According to the Department of Tourism, there were only 35 three-star hotels until 2078 BS. But by February 27, 2023, two were added taking the total number of three-star hotels to 37 in the country.

Likewise, four two-star hotels have been registered in the hotel branch by February, 2023. Among them are Hotel Sita Sharan in Dhanusha, Hotel Sri Nagar in Palpa, Dream International Hotel in Rupandehi and Nomad Hotel in Lazimpat. Until now there were 43 two star hotels, two more two star hotels totaling 45 are registered and operating.

Similarly, Thamel's Visitor Hotel is a one-star hotel registered this year. With this, the total number of one-star hotels has reached 38 in Nepal. 

Similarly,  three new simple resorts have been registered by the hotel branch from April 2022 to February 2023 under simple, deluxe and luxury resorts. Among them are Paradise Hills Resort in Godavari, Himalaya View Resort in Kavre and Om Adhyaya Retreat in Makwanpur. Along with this, the total number of ordinary resorts has reached 110. No new resorts have been opened under Luxury and Deluxe Resorts.

While star hotels and resorts were opening with huge investments, services had to be stopped for years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to this, the tourism entrepreneurs who are doing business by investing a large amount of money have been directly affected and some hotels and resorts have been closed down.

At the same time, Radhika Giri, branch officer of the hotel branch of department of tourism, said that the tourism entrepreneurs who have invested in hotels after the pandemic have come to register hotels and resorts. Only new numbers have been registered, but their work had already started before the pandemic

Giri said that the businessmen have not come to register hotels and resorts because there is no situation in which new tourism entrepreneurs will invest heavily to open hotels and resorts. She said that while the hotels and resorts that were closed due to the pandemic are gradually returning to normal, tourism entrepreneurs are not eager to open new hotels and resorts by investing large sums of money due to political instability, lack of investment assurance and business security, and climate change.

Stating that most of the customers of star hotels and resorts that have invested millions of rupees are foreign tourists, she said, "It is impossible to ignore the contribution of domestic tourists in this area, but the well-equipped hotels and resorts that have been opened with large investments often plan to target foreign guests." Due to the pandemic and various reasons for the state, the hotel registration has decreased by about 50 percent in the last few years.

 
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