Kathmandu. The government has announced a two-day public holiday on a weekend which has seen a surge in the domestic and foreign tourist arrivals in the district. Chitwan: Tourism entrepreneurs of Chitwan are excited with the increase in the number of domestic and foreign tourists regardless of the rainy season.

According to tourism entrepreneurs, the number of tourists has increased this year in Sauraha, Patihani, Jagatpur, Meghauli, among other major tourist destinations as compared to the previous years. According to them, the arrival of Chinese and Indian tourists along with domestic tourists has also increased significantly.

Mahesh Khanal, general secretary of the Regional Hotel Association Chitwan, said that although tourists usually have around 30 percent participation in tourism activities during the rainy season, this year the occupancy of hotels has reached around 50 percent.

According to him, the number of domestic tourists has increased by around 25 per cent after the implementation of holidays two days a week in comparison to the same period last year. According to him, domestic tourism has become more vibrant as schools and colleges are closed as well.

The number of Indian tourists is also increasing, he said. According to him, some domestic and foreign tourists who wanted to visit have gone to other destinations, saying the number of tourists could not come as per the expectation due to road infrastructure. He said that the influx of Indian tourists to hilly destinations including Pokhara is noteworthy.

Until some years back, many hotels in Sauraha used to close down during the rainy season, but of late, with the expansion of the hotel business, the market has been promoted targeting the rainy season.

Similarly, former Chairperson of Regional Hotel Association Chitwan and central member of Hotel Association Nepal, Suman Ghimire, said the two-day holiday in a week has directly benefited the tourism sector. According to him, although the number of tourists is less on one day out of two days, it increases significantly the next day.

He said during his visit to Kolkata some days ago, the tourism entrepreneurs in Kolkata had said that Nepal has started taking Nepal as an attractive destination this year. According to him, Indian tourists have chosen Nepal because of the Indian government’s policy of increasing foreign currency reserves, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has reduced attraction towards other destinations and Thailand has tightened the visa process. He said that its impact has also been felt in Sauraha. He believes that more tourists will be attracted if there are physical infrastructures including roads.

Deepak Bhattarai, former president of the Regional Hotel Association Chitwan, also said that the number of tourists visiting Nepal has increased this year as compared to the previous year due to the two-day holiday. According to him, the inflow of domestic tourists has increased after the two-day holiday.

The two-day public holiday has also had its impact on other tourist destinations in the district. Ganesh Poudel, operator of Hotel Jungle Villa at Patihani, said that the number of tourists has increased this year as compared to the last year.

Currently, 141 hotels are in operation in Sauraha. Patihani, Jagatpur and Meghauli in western Chitwan also have well-equipped hotels. It has the capacity to serve 10,000 tourists daily.

Domestic and foreign tourists flock to Chitwan National Park and buffer community forest for sight-seeing wildlife including one-horned rhino, Royal Bengal tiger and other wildlife.