CHITWAN: Hotels at Sauraha, the main gateway to the Chitwan National Park, have closed down within two weeks since reopening. The hotels that had reopened from July 30 have closed again since Wednesday.

The hotels in the district had remained closed since March 24 with the imposition of lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus pandemic and had opened after four months.

Regional Hotel Association Sauraha’s President Deepak Bhattarai said the hotels have been closed again in line with the government’s decision to close the hotels in view of the increased risk of COVID-19.

Bhattarai said the hotel entrepreneurs were making preparations to open the hotels by calling the cleaning staff and workers for repair and maintenance, coloring and installing Internet.

Immediate past president of the Association, Suman Ghimire suggested it would be appropriate to open the hotels only after the Dashain festival (around mid-November).

He said customers and guests would not come to stay in the hotels as long-distance transportation has been closed with the district going into lockdown following the increased risk of COVID-19.

Along with hotels, the restaurants have also started to close in Sauraha for lack of customers.

There are 110 hotels in Sauraha and around 100 restaurants in Sauraha. The hotel industry provides direct and indirect employment to more than 5,500 people here.