Room bookings at star hotels go up

Room booking at star hotels and resorts in Kathmandu for this month and the upcoming months look promising compared to the same period of last year.

Hoteliers say they have seen 10 to 15 percent increment for October-December compared to last year. Almost all the start hotels have reported growth in booking for the period. However, booking for September has gone down.

“The booking for September has gone down as the number of trekkers visiting Nepal is decreasing,” Bharat Joshi, resident manager at Hotel Yak and Yeti, said. He attributed the decline in the number of trekkers to recession in France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Booking figures of Hotel Yak and Yeti as at August 6 show the hotel has received 46 percent booking for August, 45 percent for September, 87 percent for October, 88 percent for November and 67 percent for December.

Hoteliers attribute the growth in booking to growing number of Chinese tourists, increased flow of tourists to Kailash Mansarovar area of Tibet, and growth in occupancy from MICE (Meeting Incentives Conference and Exhibition) segment.

Bharat Devkota, sales and marketing manager at Shaker Hotel, said hotels have received good bookings compared to last year because tourists feel political situation here has become stable after election date was finalized.

The hotel has received 65 percent booking for August and 75 percent, 90 percent, 90 percent and 50 percent, respectively, for September, October, November and December.

According to the hoteliers, most of the bookings have been made by individual clients. “Booking from corporate clients is not satisfactory. Likewise, booking from MICE segment, except India, is also down,” Joshi said, adding that most of the international conferences have been postponed to December-end or January due to election.
Though hotels in Kathmandu have reported rise in booking, Pokhara hotels say bookings are down compared to last year. Rajkumar KC, executive manager of Hotel Barahi, hotels in Pokhara have received less bookings compared to last year.

“We have received fewer bookings not because tourist arrivals are down. It is because six new hotels and resorts have opened in Pokhara,” said KC.Hotel Barahi has received 60 percent booking for August, 44 percent for September, 95 percent each for October and November, and 80 percent for December.

source: republica,6 august 2013