May 24: Surkhet is becoming a transit point for tourists visiting Rara as well as Mansarovar. Due to the increase in number of travellers in Surkhet and Nepalgunj, new hotels are mushrooming in the two major cities of mid-western Nepal. Tourism industry is booming in the region with the increasing number of tourists – both domestic and international.

Hotel entrepreneurs in Surkhet say that the number of tourists visiting Rara Lake of Mugu district is increasing day by day. With the opening of road, Surkhet now serves as the gateway to Rara, a scenic place deep into the wilderness of the Himalayas.

The mushrooming of hotels in Surkhet also has to do with the city being named as the capital of Karnali Province. Various programmes and seminars of the federal, provincial and local governments take place in the local hotels.

Tarka Bahadur Shahi, one of the hotel entrepreneurs of Surkhet, informed New Business Age that most of the hotels are currently occupied by internal as well as foreign tourists.

“We would be glad if the occupancy rate remains as such throughout the year,” he said.

Other hotel entrepreneurs like Shahi are excited due to the start of the Rara-Mansarovar expedition season. Hundreds of Indian pilgrims have reached Nepalgunj and Surkhet en route to Mansarovar and Kailash.

According to records maintained by government authorities, altogether 15,000 Indian tourists visited Mansarovar via Nepalgunj, Surkhet, Rara and Humla.

“I have been referring guests to other hotels almost everyday due to full occupancy,” added Shahi.

There are altogether 75 big and small hotels in Surkhet.

All the hotels and lodges along the Surkhet-Rara route including Dailekh, Kalikot, Jumla, Mugu are jampacked during this season, according to hoteliers of the region.

Yagya Raj Rokaya, an official at Rara National Park, said that around 150 tourists visit Rara every day.