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

Big hotels sprucing up for peak season

KATHMANDU, Aug 19, 2012

With the peak tourism season round the corner, hoteliers are gearing up for renovation and upgradation. Besides, regular renovation, hoteliers are also preparing to add power supply alternatives and other amenities.

Peak tourism season is likely to start mid-September, according to them.

Soaltee Crowne Plaza is adding a new restaurant which will come into operation shortly. The China Garden restaurant has the capacity of approximately 90 people. The hotel had opened Garden Terrace earlier this year.

Hotel Yak and Yeti is focusing on augmenting the power supply for the peak season. The hotel plans to complete installing new generators by the first week of September. Bharat Joshi, resident manager at the hotel, said that the hotel was also installing new chiller and cooling plant.

“We have also started changing interiors of public areas which include club lounge, bar, corridor and others,” he said. Although the hotel was initially planning to renovate the old wing, it has postponed the plan for January as the hotel has already received 70 percent confirmed bookings for September.

Likewise, Hotel de l´Annapurna is introducing club room by September 15. Raj Bikram Shah, sales manager at the hotel said that they were upgrading existing 30 rooms into club rooms. “The renovation of swimming pool has been completed and we are organizing food festival from this Sunday at Coffee Shop,” he said.

The Everest Hotel has also started refurbishment of 84 rooms and the work is expected to be complete before the start of the peak season. Amir Pradhananga, director-sales and marketing at the hotel said they are also adding new cuisines to their menu.

Source: Republica

Hotel shares could soon boom

KTHMANDU, MAY 19, 2012
With better days in both the capital market and tourism, hotel stocks might see brighter times in the capital market.

The market capitalisation of listed hotels has gone up by 20 per cent in the last one year. Though the hotel industry is considered to be promising with a bright future due to the budding tourism sector in the country, listed hotels are not faring well at the stock market.

According to recently published unaudited financials, the three hotels — out of four listed — have registered seven per cent growth in profits in third quarter of current fiscal year.

Soaltee Hotel has posted Rs 120 million, Taragaon Regency Hotel registered Rs 100.8 million and Oriental Hotels recorded Rs 83.9 million as net profits in the third quarter of current fiscal year. Hotel Yak and Yeti, which has applied for de-listing, has stopped publishing its quarterly and annual financial reports.

The index of hotels subgroup — among the nine sub groups at Nepse ––has registered only seven per cent growth since the beginning of the fiscal year. The recent surge in the capital market is yet to spill over to hotels, though they are sailing smooth due to rising tourist arrivals in the last two years.

Only stock prices of financial institutions and hydropower companies have witnessed a surge but shares of hotels, manufacturing and trading companies are still struggling.

Tourism industry in Nepal has been registering around a 20 per cent growth rate on average annually making it one of the most profitable businesses. But stocks belonging to hotels are not traded frequently and have not seen much price appreciation, though Soaltee Hotel’s bonus shares have contributed a little in increasing the market capitalisation of the subgroup.

In the last half year, only 20,489 unit shares worth Rs 2.26 million belonging to the three hotels were traded, which is less than the turnover of Nepal Telecom (NT) on an average day.

Despite nine five-star hotels and around 25 hotels ranging from three-stars that are eligible for public offering, only four are listed at the stock exchange.

“There is no obligation for hotels to issue shares to public, so it is up to them, if they want to issue shares to public to raise funds or not,” pointed out share analyst Rabindra Bhattarai.

At Nepse, some 65 per cent of the total stocks listed belong to financial intermediaries and NT’s shares consist of 10 per cent of total listed shares, leaving marginal room for any other company. “The market needs to be diversified so that different types of companies get listed which can then help investors distribute their risks by managing their portfolio,” he said.