Mass Booking Cancellations in Sauraha's Hotels
Tourists are canceling their hotel bookings in large numbers in Sauraha, a major tourist hub. This is happening even during the peak tourist season. The cancellations started after the Jeenje movement and protests that took place on September 8 and 9. The negative international news coverage from these events has led to this situation. Most hotels are reporting that their bookings have been canceled.
Complete Cancellation for September
The Sauraha Regional Hotel Association president, Om Pandey, reported that all hotel bookings for September have been one hundred percent canceled. Bookings for the upcoming months are also being canceled. He mentioned that before this, sixty-five to seventy percent of hotel rooms in the area were booked for this month. Now, only one or two rooms have tourists in them.
Negative International Messaging
The former president of the association, Deepak Bhattarai, explained that negative messages are circulating in the international community. He stated that travel agencies are sending dozens of emails and messages every day. These messages claim that Nepal is not a safe destination for tourists right now. Even though there were protests across the country, Sauraha still had a good number of tourists before. However, after they left, no new tourists arrived.
Current Tourist Numbers
Currently, there are fewer than five percent of the tourists that the hotels in Sauraha can normally accommodate. Tourists usually come to Sauraha to visit the Chitwan National Park. This park is famous around the world for its jungle safari experiences.
