POKHARA, March 13: Businessmen in Pokhara have raised concerns regarding the tourism sector’s inability to generate expected income despite an increase in commercial competition and hotel facilities. With about 700 touristic hotels and around 40,000 beds, Pokhhara’s hospitality industry faces strong competition. Although some hotels are still under construction, the overall number of rooms is expected to rise further, intensifying the competition.
Hoteliers complained that despite the surge in commercial competition, there hasn't been a corresponding improvement in guest arrivals which has failed to increase revenue in businesses. They attributed this difficult situation to high demand from guests juxtaposed with low arrival rates, leading to heightened competition among hoteliers. However, hoteliers find them unable to raise room prices and are compelled to maintain rates as earlier to remain competitive.
Tulsi Lamichhane, manager of Queenspark Hotel, stated, “It's been almost a decade, and there’s been no room to increase prices. The expected surge in arrival of guests has not met the resulting sluggish income from tourism in Pokhara.”
Another businessman expressed their inability to adjust hotel prices despite growing operational costs. He added that the necessity of increased guest arrivals to justify price increments, citing that current guest arrivals couldn’t sustain higher rates.
Another businessman who ventured into the hotel business in 2050 BS, highlighted the stagnant pricing scenario stating, “The service quality has improved significantly over decades, yet the prices of services have remained unchanged.”
Bharatraj Parajuli, a central member of the Hotel association of Nepal, stated that Pokhara has become the cheapest tourist destination due to the prevailing hotel prices. According to Parajuli, the hoteliers only manage to receive full price during the Nepali and English New Year holidays. He stressed the need for increasing guests arrival to boost hotel revenues pointing out the current occupancy rates fall short of tourism industry demands.
According to Parajuli, even during the tourist arrival seasons, the price never goes above 80 percent. “We receive only 80 percent of the total price for some days in the post-Dashain period. At other times, hoteliers only charge up to 50 percent,” he said.
Parajuli, also a former president of the Hotel Association of Pokhara, added that there is an oversupply of hotel rooms in Pokhara due to various factors, including the Visit Nepal 2020 initiative. Despite these efforts to attract more tourists, the expected increase in guest number hasn’t occurred, leading to a surplus of hotel rooms and downward pressure on prices.
“The tourism sector will be viable only if the number of guests doubles than now,” said Parajuli, “The current size of tourist arrival is not enough to meet our demands.”