Star hotels expedite preparations to resume services

Kathmandu: Five star hotels in Nepal have expedited their preparation to  resume services after more than four months lock down after government decided to operate hotels from July 30 onwards by adopting health safety protocols.

The government’s decision to operate both domestic and international flights from August 17 has given an optimistic view to the operators of hotels from three star to five star as these hotels might receive some tourists after that but the tensions  for competition also mounts as rivalry between hotels also corps up to attract tourists.

These star hotels with investment of more than billion rupees are also facing big challenges of managing their human resources  and need to spread the universal message outside that Nepal is safe enough for the tourists.

Chairman of Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) Srijana Rana said that there may be unfair competition among the hotels on tariff. She also added that all hotels cannot operate with their full capacity due to fear of Coronavirus pandemic.

As long as the Coronavirus pandemic in India and China does not slow down the chief market source of of five star hotels in Nepal will remain risk prone said she although HAN has circulated notice to all hotels to adopt health safety protocols to resume their services of hospitality.

Nepal has 15 five star hotels of which 14 are operative now while Fulbari Resport of Pokhara is still closed now. A total of 500 hotels -ranging from tourist hotel to five star are registered under the umbrella of HAN.

A government data shows that as many as 44,000 hotel beds are available in the country and as many as 2.5 million tourists can be accommodated in these hotels rooms.

An estimated budget of Rs 15 billion has been invested in these hotels and a loss of nearly Rs 41 billion has been incurred due to the invisible virus pandemic and lock down situation in the country.