Hotels and restaurants in Pokhara close shop

After the country’s industrial sector, the labor dispute is now starting to direly affect the tourism sector of the contry with most hotels and restaurants in the major tourist destination of Pokhara closing down their shutters owing to it.

All hotels and restaurants in Pokhara city were forced to close down from Wednesday after workers close to the Maoist trade unions went on a strike demanding hike in salary as per the labour act. After the workers stopped working, the hotels were unable to cater to their mainly foreign guests.

However, few hotels and restaurants outside Pokhara’s city limits are operating despite the strike.

Reports said that hoteliers have already asked their guests to cut short their trip and vacate the hotels. Most of the hotels in Pokhara are teeming with foreign tourists preparing for a long trek in the mountains or relaxing after it or who are here just to savor Pokhara’s natural beauty.

Nowhere is the effect of the closure starker than in Lake side, Pokhara’s main tourist area where the majority of the city’s hotels and restaurants are concentrated.

Reports said most of the tourists living in the area are returning to Kathmandu or making their way to other tourist destinations. Some of them had to spend the entire day without any proper food yesterday.

Tourists planning to visit Pokhara have already cancelled their trip after learning about the closure while those who had planned to stay in Pokhara for long are thinking about shortening their stay. nepalnews.com Jan 09 09