Chitwan. Owner Gunaraj Thapaliya expressed happiness that 30 tourists from third countries are arriving at Unique Wild Resort of Sauraha today. Tourists have started arriving in Sauraha after the desertion of Dashain this year, which was full of tourists in the past years.

The businessmen were disappointed after the tourists cancelled their bookings due to political change and landslides in the tourist season. Thapaliya, who is also the vice-president of the Regional Hotel Association, said that the arrival of domestic and foreign tourists has started from Tuesday.

He said, “Only five per cent of tourists visited the country during Dashain and it has been growing well since yesterday.” According to him, around 30 percent of the tourists have reached today. Last year, around 80 percent of tourists used to visit Sauraha at this time.

Om Pandey, president of the Regional Hotel Association, said that tourists have started coming to the hotels including his landmark. According to him, the tourists who came to Nepal before the Genji movement started coming to Sauraha due to the improvement of the road. Although the number of Nepalis is low, the number of foreigners is increasing. He said, “Although the booking is not good, the number of direct visitors has started increasing. Pandey said that they have raised hope after some of the tourists started coming to the hospital.

Owner of the Jungle Safari Lodge, Suman Ghimire, said that tourists have gradually started arriving in the forest. He said that the number of domestic tourists will increase with the Tihar festival. “We expect the inflow of domestic and foreign tourists to gradually increase. He said that the number of tourists coming here has increased with the opening of jungle safari inside the park. He said that the number of tourists visiting Chitwan would increase during the holidays, saying the road network in all directions is good for the tourists wanting to visit Chitwan.

Hotel Vista proprietor Ramesh Silwal said 14 people were returning to Sauraha by phone today alone. He said that he is confident that the number of tourists will increase now as the process of understanding through different mediums has started. Dipendra Khatiwada, a tourism entrepreneur of Sauraha, said that the number of tourists visiting the restaurants has increased. According to him, the number of elephant safaris is also increasing gradually.

He said that in the past years, it was difficult for the elephant riders to reach the area during Dashain, but this year it is deserted. Tourists visiting Chitwan National Park come to Sauraha for their stay. They take safari in national parks and community forests. They like to see rare wildlife like one-horned rhinoceros, Bengal tiger and other animals. This park is famous all over the world for safaris.