January 28, 2023:After the plane crash of Yeti Airlines in Setikhonch of Pokhara last week, the tourism sector of Pokhara has slowed down.
Naresh Bhattarai, president of Rewan Pokhara and owner of Hotel Mount Kailash informed that even though January is the off-season in terms of tourism, the bookings made for February and March have been canceled by tourists after the plane crash.” Now nearly 40 percent of bookings have been canceled and, the process of cancellation is still going on”, he said. He said that due to the impact of the air accident, the number of tourists has decreased due to not being mentally prepared for the flight, and the road infrastructure not being organized and comfortable.
Prateik Pahari, the owner of Hotel Sarovar, says that the arrival of domestic tourists has been significant in recent times, but this number has decreased after the plane crash. He said, “After the plane crash, people are not mentally ready to travel and the bookings are being canceled.”
Pomnarayan Shrestha, chairman of the Pokhara Tourism Council, said that the tourism professionals who were excited about the operation of the airport were emotionally and professionally saddened after the incident last week. He said, “Now the tourism sector of Pokhara has slowed down also some bookings are being canceled in some hotels booked for the tourist season. He said that air flights should be made safe, reliable, and trustworthy and the nation should also pay special attention to road infrastructure.
Lakshman Subedi, president of Hotel Association Pokhara Nepal, informed that until the day before the plane crash, 30/40 percent of bookings were made at the lakeside hotels, but after the accident, it dropped to 10/15 percent.”The tourism sector, which has been running slowly, has slowed down again after the aircraft accident.
