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Jungle Resort's Village Hospitality
Among mighty competitors, this small player is defining its own space in the jungle of the Chitwan National Park 's tourism business.
No wager to answer the question: Why does a tourist go to Chitwan National Park ? But if he goes there to enjoy nature, his choice of accommodation is not dictated so much by the amenities available at the resort but on the opportunities he gets to enjoy nature in all its variations. Jungle Resort, a small, family-owned tourist village, has been capitalising on this sentiment of the tourists.
 The key is in providing unique services and creating enough word-of-mouth advertising, says Ishwari Khatiwada, the proprietor. While the other jungle lodges and resorts within the park offer tourists a standard international food menu, Jungle Resort is providing typical Nepali food.
Based on the philosophy of eco-tourism, Jungle Resort plans to promote and conserve local traditions and cultures, says Khatiwada who is planning to develop it as a cluster of huts made of locally available Sabai grass, in the traditional Tharu style.
The concept emerged after talking to tourists over a period of time. Almost invariably, they were interested to see what a typical Tharu village looked like and how life in such village was. The result was the Jungle Resort stretching over 12 ropanis of land.
But building a Tharu house is not enough. The surroundings too have to be like a Tharu-village. For this, the resort started developing a garden around it growing local flowers, herbs and vegetables that have high value in the local Tharu culture. The result is that all the vegetables served to guests are organically grown in this garden. The resort’s menu too is different because it serves only seasonal vegetables, as is the case in any ordinary village Nepali household. The menu changes according to festivals to incorporate festival foods. It has bee hives (10 at present) too like a typical Tharu household does. The resort now plans to expand the garden by leasing the nearby lands. In this effort, the resort is also working with environmentalists and environmental conscious organisations like the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation.
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Ishwari Khatiwada, Proprieter, Jungle Resort |
The construction of the resort started four years ago and has been in operation for two years. So far, the estimated investment stands at Rs 2.3 million, and has the capacity of 10 beds.
There are about 60 resorts or lodges registered inside the Chitwan National Park but only about 45 are in operation at present.
Currently, the Jungle Resort is operating with staff strength of five, including the cook, city guide, hunting guide, receptionist and Khatiwada as the CEO. “Though our workforce may lack professional knowledge, we have enough practical knowledge regarding service and hospitality. And visitors generally do not expect professional service when they come to such family-run hotels,” he says. Khatiwada plans to stick to the concept of family operation because, as he puts it, family members are more trustworthy and thus they can add more value to the services.
Since the resort was started only two years ago when the tourist arrival was not so good due to the political situation then, it was able to get only 300 tourists last year. Unfortunately, despite the political situation changing now, the guest number has been even lower this year. However, Khatiwada is determined that his resort will serve 2,000 tourists this year. But that hope depends on the other hope that the current political process would bring about long term peace in the country.
Regarding marketing, the Khatiwada is now planning to set up its own marketing office in Kathmandu as word-of-mouth alone is not going to be sufficient as the resort expands.
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