Tourism in Pokhara slowed down after ship accident

After the plane crash of Yeti Airlines in Setikhonch of Pokhara on January 1, the tourism sector of Pokhara has slowed down. The tourism business here, which started operating after Pokhara International Airport came into operation with the English New Year, has slowed down again after the ship accident.

"The month of January is the off-season in terms of tourism, while February and March are the seasons, so the tourists booked. But after the plane crash, bookings have started to be canceled", said Naresh Bhattarai, president of Rewan Pokhara and owner of Hotel Mount Kailash.

"Now, almost 40 percent of bookings have been canceled and it has dropped to 20 percent, and the process of cancellation is still going on," he said. According to him, tourists have decreased due to the impact of the air crash, not being able to prepare mentally for the flight, and the road infrastructure not being organized and comfortable.

Currently, domestic and foreign tourists who come to visit Pokhara have also started canceling their bookings.

Prateek Pahari, the owner of Hotel Sarovar, says that the arrival of domestic tourists has been significant in recent times, but this number has decreased after the plane crash. He said, "After the plane crash, people are not mentally ready to travel. Many programs were booked, but the bookings are being cancelled."According to him, 60 percent of programs were booked in January and 70 percent in February at Hotel Sarovar, now it has dropped to 20 percent.

Pomnarayan Shrestha, chairman of the Pokhara Tourism Council, says that the tourism businessmen who were excited with the operation of the airport are emotionally and professionally saddened after the incident on January 1. He said, "Now the tourism sector of Pokhara has slowed down. Bookings are being canceled in some hotels booked for the tourist season. He said that air flights should be made safe, reliable, and trustworthy and the state should also pay special attention to road infrastructure.

Laxman Subedi, president of Hotel Association Pokhara Nepal, said that until the day before the plane crash, 30-40 percent of bookings were made at the lakeside hotels, but after the accident, it dropped to 10-15 percent."The tourism sector, which was gradually developing, slowed down again after the ship accident. The road infrastructure is not good, so most of them used to travel by air, but with the accident, tourists are not ready to use air," he said. According to him, there are 700 tourist-level hotels on the lakeside and dam side and 1200 tourist-level hotels around Pokhara.

The impact of the ship accident has also been seen in the International Mountain Museum of Pokhara. The executive director of the museum, Nirmala Neupane, informed that during the daily season, 1500 to 2000 students come to the museum for internal, external, and student viewing, and in normal conditions, the figure has decreased to around 500. He said that although there were no foreign tourists, students and other tourists from within Pokhara and surrounding areas also did not come.

On January 1, a plane of Yeti Airlines flying from Kathmandu to Pokhara crashed in Seti Gorge, killing all on board.