Kathmandu. Chitwan: The government has announced a two-day public holiday on weekends, which has seen a surge in the inflow of domestic and foreign tourists to 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. He said that some domestic and foreign tourists who wanted to come here have gone to other destinations, saying the number of tourists could not come as per the expectation due to the 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.

Suman Ghimire, former president of the Regional Hotel Association Chitwan and central member of Hotel Association Nepal, said that tourism sector has been directly benefited by the two-day holiday in a week. According to him, although the flow 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 have started taking Nepal as an attractive destination this year. According to him, Indian tourists have chosen Nepal as the Indian government has adopted the policy of increasing foreign exchange 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 roads and other physical infrastructures.

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