Sales of Fulbari Resort up by 30 percent

POKHARA, Dec 11, 2012

Pokhara based five star hotel Fulbari Resort which was operating under loss for almost a decade has stated that it was operating under ´break even´ after it started focusing on local market from last year. The officials of the resort said their total sales was up by 30 percent compared a year ago.

In a period of last one year, the deluxe resort has hosted various programs of corporate houses, wedding banquets and different events pulling up its overall revenue.

Although the tourist arrivals had gone up significantly in recent years, the resort was not being able to cash in on the opportunity, nor was it among the favorite venues of corporate houses because of its higher tariff. The tariff of the resort was almost 30 percent higher than other deluxe hotels of Pokhara.

However, in recent months the resort has been offering competitive rates to attract the local sales.

More than a dozen national level and some international events have been held at the resort. In a period of a month, there were five events of local banks. Following the good revenue collection, the officials of the resort are focusing on the local business.

The occupancy of the hotel in November was at 65 to 70 percent in its 165 rooms. The hotel had 60 super deluxe rooms and the tariff of the room is US $ 250.

Sales and Marketing Officer of the resort Puspa Raj Chalise said, “After the competitive rates, we have been successful in attracting good volume of revenue from local business.” He further said that the organizers before were choosing other venue because of higher cost.

According to the officials, the resort earns from Rs 400,000 to Rs 1.5 million depending upon the number of guests at the event. Ibrahim Seikh, General Manager of the resort said, “Besides the local events, the number of Indian tourist along with other nationalities is also improving at the resort.” He said the resort was popular amongst honeymoon couples because of its peaceful location.

Source: Republica

Flights into KTM almost booked out for autumn

KATHMANDU, AUG 27, 2012

International airlines serving Nepal are seeing a surge in inbound bookings. Almost every flight into Kathmandu is 90 percent booked for October and November while 75 percent of the seats have been booked for September, said travel agents.

They added that the rush for tickets may also encourage carriers to hike fares. Tickets are expected to be 20-25 percent dearer this autumn. “As Nepali travellers have a habit of making their reservations at the last hour, they will have to pay more,” said Bhola Bikram Thapa, managing director of President Travels and Tours. “There is a large number of Nepalis in different parts of the world who will be returning home for the festival season, but they are yet to make reservations.”

He added that getting a ticket on some routes may be very difficult during the peak season no matter how much travellers are prepared to pay. The September-November period is the high season for airlines as this is when most foreign tourists visit Nepal and migrant Nepali workers and students return home to celebrate the holiday season with their families.

Travel agents said that the Kuala Lumpur-Kathmandu sector has become a very busy route. Nepal Airlines, Air Asia, Biman Bangladesh, Jet Airways and Thai Airways are some of the carriers serving the sector. Malaysian Airlines and Nepali private carrier BB Airways plan to fly on this route by September. The increased number of carriers and resulting competition is expected to start a fare war.

“All the carriers flying the Kuala Lumpur-Kathmandu route report full inbound bookings from the last week of September,” said Shyam Raj Thapaliya, managing director of Osho World Travel Nepal.

Meanwhile, the London-Kathmandu route has emerged as the busiest sector after Kuala Lumpur with bookings surpassing 95 percent for October. Qatar Airways’ London-Kathmandu flights are almost packed from Sept 10 while bookings for October have crossed 95 percent. Oman Air and Gulf Air have bookings of more than 80 percent.

Similarly, inbound flights from other European destinations are almost sold out for October. Flights to and from the US are fully booked from Sept 10 onwards.

Inbound from China too has been good. Three Chinese carriers, Air China, China Southern and China Eastern, have modest bookings for September but are sold out for October. Indian carriers Air India, Jet Airways, Indigo and Spice Jet are full after Sept 22. Similarly, Hong Kong-Kathmandu flights are fully booked from mid-September to mid-October while Bangkok-Kathmandu flights are fully booked for October and November.

The rush for tickets has prompted a number of airlines to increase their frequency. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Gulf Air, Air Asia X, Dragon Air and China Eastern have applied to raise their frequency from September.

Among them, Air Asia has been permitted to increase the frequency of its Kuala Lumpur flights to thrice weekly from twice weekly. Gulf Air has applied to increase the frequency of its 12 times weekly Bahrain service by two flights weekly from Sept 11. Dragon Air has applied to double its thrice weekly service to Hong Kong and China Eastern wants to upgrade to five weekly flights on the Kunming sector.

Source: The Kathmandu Post