By Laxman Paudel
Bhairahawa, Oct 1: Lumbini-based tourism businesses have introduced cheap tour packages to restart tourism in the area after the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.
According to tourism entrepreneurs, these packages are designed to attract domestic and foreign tourists to Lumbini.
The Lumbini Hotel Association (LHA) has announced a one-night two-day guided tour package for Rs. 2,199. As informed by Leela Mani Sharma, general secretary of the Association, the package will be available for visitors from Friday.
The package also includes a 25 per cent discount on accommodation and 10 per cent discount on food, said Mithun Man Shrestha, president of LHA. Shrestha stated that the package had been announced to help the tourism sector, which has been knocked down by the pandemic, get back on its feet.
According to tourism stakeholders, hardly any foreign tourist has visited Lumbini, famous around the world as the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha, in the last 18 months due to the closure of international flights. Similarly, pilgrims have also not been able to come by land from India because of the restrictions at Nepal’s border entry points.
With these restrictions lifted, businesses hope that tourists will start coming to the region again and have announced these cheap packages to help facilitate them. The tourism entrepreneurs The Rising Nepal spoke to said that the packages were more oriented towards attracting domestic tourists than the international ones.
“On Friday, the first day of the LHA package, we will pick tourists up from the bus park and welcome them at the hotel. We will also host a robotic theatre at Lumbini and Buddhagram for them in the evening,” Shrestha said.
The total package includes a two-bed room, breakfast, lunch, dinner, guided tour with transportation and robotic theatre, Sharma informed.