KATHMANDU: Nepal’s hotel industry has reported a total fixed investment of Rs 5.5 billion, as revealed by the ‘National Hotel and Restaurant Survey 2023’ published by the National Statistics Office on Wednesday.
The survey, which includes a wide array of establishments such as hotels, lodges, resorts, homestays, guest houses, and restaurants, shows that the total fixed assets of hotels stand at Rs 543.2582 million.
The survey, which is the first comprehensive study of its kind, also highlights that there is more than Rs 10.5 billion in foreign investment in Nepal’s hotel industry.
According to Dr Hemraj Regmi, Deputy Chief Statistics Officer at the National Statistics Office, the survey gathered data on 142,223 hotels and restaurants across the country.
It marks a significant expansion from previous surveys, such as the ‘Hotel and Lodge Survey 2004 which only focused on star hotels, resorts, and non-star hotels related to accommodation and food services.
Of the 150,000 hotels operating nationwide, 1,121 are fully foreign-invested, with 1,073 being solely foreign-owned and 48 involving joint foreign investment. Additionally, 59 hotels feature joint investment from both Nepali and foreign investors.
The survey, conducted for the fiscal year 2022/23, is seen as an important tool to gauge the hospitality sector’s contribution to Nepal’s economy.
It also found that 493 hotels/restaurants have permanent assets exceeding Rs 100 million, with 214 of them located in the Bagmati region. Conversely, there are 67,521 hotels and restaurants with an investment of less than Rs 200,000.
The hospitality sector is a significant employer in Nepal, with 154,599 people working in hotels and food service establishments across the country.
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