Sauraha, Apr. 21
The New Year 2078 has brought boon to
Sauraha, a tourism hub in Chitwan, which like other tourist destinations across
the country experienced the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic and remained out
of operation for more than six months.
It took more than half-a-year for it to
bounce back to a nominal scale of business. People began to visit the
destination as the first wave of COVID-19 slowed its pace and the number of
cases went down significantly following the great festival season in Nepal.
"Tourism and hotel business increased
significantly in the last week of Chaitra and first week of Baisakh," said
Bikash Lama, a forest guard at Baghmara Buffer Zone Community Forest Users
Group.
According to him, tourist flow had
increased due to the New Year season, and elephants and jeeps for jungle safari
were on short supply. Sauraha and the Rapti River bank were full of people who
came here to celebrate the New Year 2078.
Many hotels and safari businesses told The Rising Nepal that business is almost
restored although it was not up to the normal situation.
Santu Lama, an elephant rider, said that
they had as many as seven elephant trips in a day which was the maximum. An
elephant safari can last from 1.5 to 3 hours. There are about 45 private
elephants reared by the hotels in Sauraha that are used for the jungle safari
in buffer zone jungles.
Likewise, there are 40 jungle jeep safari
companies. There is no impact of coronavirus on tourism during the New Year
season, said Buddhi Bomjon, proprietor of Florican Jungle Tour that offers
elephant and jeep safari and other services to the tourists.
However, the confidence is shaking with the
growing infection rate and government restrictions, he maintained.
Excursions
to Sauraha
On Saturday, students of Saraswati
Secondary School of Dakaha in Sindhuli district were on education tour to Sauraha.
Likewise, a couple of cooperatives had also
brought their members to the one of the most famous tourism destinations in the
country for the excursion while a group of women was enjoying the scene of the
Rapati River and beyond.
Sauraha is famous for jungle walk, bird
watching, Chepang Hill trek, elephant safari, jeep safari, canoeing, sunset view,
campfire and Tharu culture. With these activities, it can engage tourists for
more than a couple of days.
Concerns
to safety
Brabim Bartaula, who came to Sauraha from
Hetauda of Makwanpur district to enjoy the elephant safari, jeep safari and
other fun activities, said that although there is a slight fear in them, they
wanted to travel and enjoy.
“We have come here in a family trip to
enjoy the nature,” he said.
However, Bartaula and many other domestic
tourists expressed concerns to the weak adherence to the coronavirus safety
measures. Many local tourists looked more carefree saying that the government has
let all businesses and people to act freely.
"We must not forget that the fear of
the COVID-19 is not over. Observing the activities in Sauraha, other tourist
destinations and markets, one feels that there is no coronavirus fear. There is
no adherence to safety measures and people do not care much about it,"
said Bartaula.
Sauraha has more than 110 hotels of various
levels and dozens of local and multi-cuisine restaurants that have employed
more than 3,500 individuals. About 30 per cent employments were affected by the
COVID-19, many of them currently engaged in self-employment, said Suman
Ghimire, Immediate Past President of Regional Hotel Association, Chitwan.
According to him, since most of the
domestic tourists visit Sauraha and return in the evening, the hotels had less
business after the pandemic. He said that the New Year rush was an expected
phenomenon, otherwise Sauraha witnesses fewer tourists during the summer.
Fresh
challenge
The increased contagion of coronavirus and
government restrictions will surely impact the business in Sauraha.
Ghimire said that it was easier for the
hotel and tourism entrepreneurs to receive customers since the fear of coronavirus
was diminishing in the public but the government restrictions would create a
fresh challenge to them.
Forest Guard Lama said that businesses are prepared
to operate with the safety measures like sanitizer, masks and social distancing
but no one is in a mood to shut down the businesses completely.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 April 2021.
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