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Lumbini hotels target domestic tourists

Lumbini: Hotels in Lumbini -- the birthplace of Gautam Buddha -- that so far concentrated on foreign tourists for their business have lately shifted their focus and taken initiatives to lure and cater to the needs of the domestic tourists.

The shift started mainly as this UNESCO World Heritage Site continued to draw more number of domestic travelers every year and also the number of hotels went up in the area. Domestic travelers can now get rooms in the hotels in and around Lumbini starting from Rs 500. The rate can go up to Rs 6,000 for deluxe rooms.

Around 525,000 tourists visited Lumbini during the first nine months of Visit Lumbini Year (VLY) 2012, out of which around 50 percent were domestic tourists. Two years ago, only 20 percent of total tourists served by hotels were domestic visitors.

Though number of visitors to Lumbini has gone up in recent years, hoteliers say most of the domestic tourists stay in the hotels outside Lumbini area and some of them return back the same day.

Suraj Gurung, general manager of Buddha Maya Garden Hotel, said Lumbini hotels were counting on domestic tourists to survive the growing competition among hoteliers.

Number of hotels in Lumbini has doubled over the past two years.

“We are offering rooms starting from Rs 2,000 and developing a special package for domestic tourists,” added Gurung.

There are around 30 hotels in Lumbini. These hotels have the combined capacity to serve 2,500 guests per night.

“Around a dozen hotels are coming into operation soon,” said Mithun Man Shrestha, president of Lumbini Hotel and Restaurant Association (LHRA). Shrestha said affordable room tariff was the major selling point to attract local travelers. “Domestic tourists now have wide options in terms of prices and facilities,” added Shrestha.

Gurung said the length of stay of domestic tourists, however, is lower compared to foreign tourists. “Most of the foreigners come for religious purpose and hence stay here for long, whereas the average length of stay of Nepali is less than two nights,” he said, expressing hope that the attractive domestic package would raise length of stay in the near future.

Despite massive growth in number of hotels along with the travel tourism business in recent years, entrepreneurs said that they were still not in comfort level in terms of returns. “Our business is seasonal; the number of visitors is negligible during summer,” Rajesh Kaji Shrestha, chairman of Hotel Peace Land, said. “The government must introduce promotional programs to boost tourism in Lumbini.”

source:republica,16 Oct 2012