The Western Regional Hotel Association has increased the accommodation rates in Pokhara keeping in mind Tourism Year 2011. The revised rates start from minimum of NRs. 545 to maximum of 4500 based on seven categories of the room types. This new scheme will be functional from 1st January 2011 which will be applied for both local and international tourist.
“Such cartelling scheme is good news for tourism industry as a whole,” said Govinda Bahadur Pahari, president of Western Regional Hotel Association. “With their commencement of such scheme will send a positive message to tourists”, further added.
Hospitality industry of Pokhara has witnessed an encouraging expansion especially after the country embarked on peace process. In 2009 also, 35 tourist-class hotels were opened in Pokhara. Four dozen new tourist-class hotels came into operation in Pokhara in 2010, as investors encouraged by the rise in tourists arrivals aggressively jumped into the hospitality business. With this, the number of hotels in Pokhara has soared to five hundred.
The expansion in tourism was not just limited in hotel industry. Fourteen new travel agencies and four new trekking agencies too were opened in Pokhara in 2009, according to the statistics of the Tourism Office. With their operations, the number of travel agencies in Pokhara has soared to 83. The number of trekking agencies too has jumped to 67.
According to Pahari, some hoteliers had offered rooms at as low as Rs 200, and thereby causing problems for other members.
1Ropani.com