On the eve of New Year 2023, hotels in the tourist hotspot Sauraha have started filling up, mostly with domestic tourists.
Big hotels in Sauraha, Patihani, Meghauli and other areas in and around Chitwan National Park are already full with two days preceding the New Year turning out to be public holidays.
"There is a good presence of tourists this New Year and all the hotels are likely to be full by this evening," said Rishi Tiwari, President of United Elephant Management Cooperative, which operates private elephants safari in Sauraha.
Likewise, Madhav Duwadi, who runs two hotels in Sauraha, says that both hotels have been full for the past two days.
Ganesh Paudel, the owner of Jungle Villa in Patihani, said that the hotel has been filled with Indian and Nepali tourists for the past two days. With the increase in tourists, the restaurants around the park are also full.
A total of 120 hotels in Sauraha are affiliated to the regional hotel association.
According to Deepak Bhattarai, President of the Regional Hotel Association, Sauraha has the capacity to accommodate eight thousand tourists.
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