SANGAM

House full
Hotel bookings for the upcoming autumn season reach a record high
SANGAM PRASAIN

KATHMANDU, AUG 31 -
The hotel industry is looking buoyant with encouraging bookings at major five-star hotels for the upcoming season. Thanks to increased air links, bookings at five-star hotels have soared to over 90 percent for the autumn season (October-November).

Hoteliers said that some five-star hotels had been overbooked while bookings at others had crossed 90 percent. Higher booking rates for autumn make a huge difference to the domestic hospitality industry as it is the main tourist season. Around 30 percent of the total tourist arrivals occur during this time.

Hoteliers said that hotel occupancy this season was likely to rise significantly compared to 2008 and 2009. However, they are worried that if the overwhelming rate of bookings continues, it would be hard to manage them. The hotels have a bed capacity of only 25,357. However, a recent Nepal Tourism Board survey at 15 tourist sites shows that 66,603 beds can be generated.

With the significant rise in bookings, travel trade entrepreneurs and hoteliers are hoping that the business outlook will be much better than in previous years.

From Hotel Everest, Hyatt Regency to Shangri-La, almost all have their bookings going up to 100 percent. In the case of Hotel Yak & Yeti and Radisson, bookings have reached over 95 percent.

Room bookings for the upcoming season at the Soaltee Crowne Plaza, the country's leading five-star hotel, have surged by 20 percent. "Compared to the last season, bookings have gone up by 20 percent," said Sony Chaudhary, assistant manager, marketing and public relations.

Despite overwhelming bookings, hoteliers are still not sure whether they will materialize into business. Amir Pradhananga, sales and marketing director of the Everest Hotel, is one of them. "Despite the rate of booking (ROB) for autumn crossing 100 percent, we're not sure if these bookings will be occupied until we get the final reservation order from the customers," said Pradhananga. As per hotel rules, customers should confirm or cancel their bookings before 15-20 days.

Last year, about 30 percent of the clients had cancelled their bookings. "This season, there are no signs of cancellation; however, there are still some weeks left to get the final confirmation of the reservations," said Pradhananga.

The Everest Hotel has overbooked rooms for a few days in October.

The Shangri-La's ROB has also crossed 100 percent for the season. The hotel had 95 percent occupancy in the same period last year. Mohan Khanal, sales and marketing manager, said that ROB had been more than expected. He said that the hotel would not have problems even in the case of overbooking since they can divert the customers to other hotels. "And, this was done before also," said Khanal. American, Japanese and Europeans are in majority to book rooms at the Shangri-La that has 100 rooms.

The Yak & Yeti's ROB has reached 95 percent for October. The hotel's ROB for October and November is 95 and 85 percent respectively. The same is the case with Hotel Radisson whose booking till now has crossed 90 percent. "A majority of the bookings are from Australian, British, Japanese and Indians, said Ranju Man Pradhan, marketing and sales director of the Radisson. The hotel is planning to launch 160 new rooms for 2011.

The Annapurna Hotel with an 85 percent ROB has received a majority of the bookings from visitors from the UK and Germany. Last year, the hotel had 90 percent booking for this season. "Still there is one month left to start the tourist season, and the bookings made until the end of August are very encouraging," said Raj Bahadur Shah of the hotel.

Despite the weak performance of the national flag carrier, hoteliers are hoping more tourists will arrive in the season with more international airlines coming to the country.

India's Spice Jet and Oman's Omar Air will be starting their service to Nepal very shortly.

Nepal saw record tourist arrivals of 526,507 in 2007 which subsequently decreased. In 2009, arrivals had gone up by 1.89 percent to 509,752.