Bhairahawa, December 15

Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha, is attracting investment in the hotel industry to provide world-class services to visiting tourists. Several five star hotels are being opened in the tourist destination.

Australian hotel management company Argaili Hotel Group is constructing Hotel Vijalio at the cost of Rs 1.6 billion at Lumbini Sanskritik Municipality. Chairman of

Hotel Vijalio Amrik Chaudhary said the 130 room hotel would accommodate as many as 250 guests. The star hotel that will spread over seven bighas of land will have two presidential suites, 10 exquisite rooms, 90 deluxe rooms, 12 common suites, three restaurants, three swimming pools and a 400 square metres meditation centre.

Executive Committee Member of Siddhartha Industry and Commerce Association Govinda Gyawali said around three dozen star hotels were providing service to tourists in Lumbini.

As many as 1,339,000 domestic and international tourists visited Lumbini this fiscal. According to Lumbini Development Trust, 10 million domestic tourists, 160,811 Indian tourists and 15,161 foreigners visited Lumbini till November this fiscal.

According to a report, tourists arrival was high in the months of January, February, March, April, October and November compared to May, Jun, July, August and September.

Siddhartha Hotel Entrepreneurs Association Chairman Chandra Prakash Shrestha, however, said most tourists who visited Lumbini did not stay in Lumbini. He said the number of tourists staying in Lumbini had decreased though the flow of tourists had increased.

Lumbini has been able to attract investment in hotel industry mainly due to the under construction Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa, which is around 25 kilometre away from Lumbini. It is expected that the construction of the airport will be completed well before the deadline.