Hotels and restaurants close again in Chitwan

 

Chitwan: Chitwan, famed for its wildlife and national park, has closed its door for visitors once again after two weeks of brief opening. The hotels which were opened from July 30 were closed from Wednesday, August 13.

According to Deepak Bhattarai, president of Sauraha-based Regional Hotel Association, they followed the directives of the government to close the hotels immediately. The hotels which were closed from March 24 had opened after four months.

Bhattarai said that the hotels were busy in renovation and clean-up to welcome their guests when the government directed them to close the hotels. “We are facing huge loss because we have to incur expenses but there is no income,” Bhattarai said.

Former president of the Association Suman Ghimire said that there is no point in opening hotels before the Dashain festival. According to him, there are no customers due to the fear of infection and suspension of long-distance vehicles.

Most of the restaurants are also shutting down as there are very less customers for take-away food. There are 110 hotels in Sauraha. Similarly, there are 100 small and big restaurants in the area. These hotels and restaurants have given employment to more than 500 people in Sauraha.