KATHMANDU, Nepal-The government has enforced a new set of criteria for star hotels and tourist standard resorts including the new category of deluxe five-star.
The new criteria was published in the Gazette on Monday.
As per the notice published in the Gazette, the government has enforced the criteria by making amendments to the Hotel, Lodge, Restaurant, Bar and Tour Operator Regulation 1981.
Earlier, the government has issued the order in the gazette entitled “Hotel Standard 1998” based on Hotel Lodge, Restaurant, Bar and Tour Operator Regulation 1981.
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has proposed for the amendment in the existing rules that direct the hotels running with star standardization upgrade their facilities in line with the international norms in consultation with the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN).
As per the new criteria, all star hotels need to increase rooms by 20 percent. Similarly, they should have facilities like Wi-Fi and CCTV and should have LCD/LED TV in all rooms.
New hotels should follow the criteria immediately, while existing hotels have five years to meet the new criteria. As per the notice, hotels that fail to meet the criteria within the given timeframe will be dropped to lower category.
“ The new rules are made in order to improve the quality of services as well as standard of hotels in Nepal,” said Mohan Krishna Sapkota, spokesperson for MoCTCA.
HAN has compiled with the standards of Hotel Association Thailand, Australian Hotel Association and Indian Hotel Standard to prepare the draft amendments.
The new set of rules mostly focus on deluxe star hotels targeting upcoming chain hotels and existing five star hotels seeking upgrade. The deluxe hotels should meet the criteria such as a minimum of 200 rooms, more than five food and beverage outlets, banquets of 6,000 square feet and above, vehicle scanning equipment and baggage scanner, among others.
For non star hotels, the proposed amendments include removing the criteria of compulsory parking area and adding up facilities so as to convert into star hotels. “The amendments for non-star hotels are basically for registration,” said Sapkota.
Hoteliers have welcomed the new standardization order. They say the new standards will help to raise the quality of hotels in Nepal in line with the international standard. They have also hailed the government decision to introduce deluxe five-star category, saying that it has opened the doors for investment in deluxe five-star hotels. Also existing five start hotels can upgrade themselves into deluxe five-star category by adding new facilities, they said.
According to HAN officials, five-star hotels like Hyatt Regency Kathmandu, Hotel Radisson Kathmandu Hotel and Soaltee Crown Plaza already have the necessary infrastructures to upgrade themselves into the category of deluxe five-star. Other five-star hotels are also making preparations to upgrade to the deluxe five-star category, they said.
