Hotel occupancy in Gandaki Province at 31.84%

KATHMANDU: Hotel occupancy in Gandaki Province remained at only 31.48% in fiscal year 2024/25. This is a slight improvement from 31% in the previous fiscal year.

The Economic Activities Report of Gandaki Province 2024/25, released by the Nepal Rastra Bank  (NRB)  on Thursday, shows that the province’s hospitality sector reported lower hotel room occupancy even though foreign tourist footfall rose 26% to 69,491 in the review year.

Hotel rooms in the province increased from 234,360 in the previous fiscal year to 236,880 in 2024/25.

The National Statistics Office has projected a 5.51% economic growth for the province in 2024/25, higher than the national growth estimates of 4.61%, driven by improvements in the service and industrial sectors.

Agriculture contributed 27.8% to the provincial GDP in 2024/25, followed by industry (16.5%) and services (55.58%). In comparison, the national economic structure comprises 25.6% agriculture, 12.4% industry, and 62% services.

According to the report, the total cultivated area of major crops in the Province declined by 1.11% percent to 431,385 hectares in 2024/25. While land used for vegetables, fruits, spices, tea, and coffee increased, that for food grains and cash crops contracted by 1.55%.
Overall, the production of major crops decreased by 4.86%, largely due to declines in food grain and fruit yields. However, output of vegetables (10.98%), spices (5.26%), coffee (47.95%), and honey (69.69%) rose sharply during the review year.

In livestock and fisheries, milk and fish production fell by 1.25% and 0.74% respectively, whereas meat and egg output grew by 1.36% and 4.85%. Forest-based production also expanded, with timber and firewood output rising by 31.35% and 13.68%, respectively.

Commercial lending to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries reached Rs 24.06 billion, accounting for 6.74% of the total loans disbursed in the province, according to the report.

Industrial capacity utilization in Gandaki averaged 39.19%, nearly unchanged from the previous year, the central bank study shows. Production increased for instant noodles, capsule medicines, beer, cigarettes, processed milk, dry syrup, and mustard oil, while it fell for bricks, ointments, tablets, chocolates, liquid medicines, biscuits, and cement.

Financial institutions channelled Rs 27.91 billion, or 7.82% of their total credit in the province, into the industrial sector.

In the service sector, tourism showed a robust rebound, with 69,491 foreign tourists visiting Gandaki Province, up 26 percent from the previous year. Hotel occupancy rate in the province improved slightly to 31.84%.

Despite improved tourism performance, the education sector saw a 5.31% decline in university enrolment. The study has attributed this decline to migration abroad and inadequate technical and vocational training opportunities. However, the number of teachers rose by 1.33%, while the number of colleges decreased by 3.13% due to institutional mergers.

Deposits mobilized by banks and financial institutions in the province grew by 14.6% to Rs 612.29 billion, while credit flow increased by 2.3% to Rs 356.92 billion. Lending to the tourism sector rose marginally by 0.56% to Rs 23.89 billion.