Bardiya–Krishnasar Tourism System: How Many Hotels Are Actually Needed?

Bardiya National Park is a major wildlife tourism destination in western Nepal. Thousands of tourists visit every year to observe tigers, rhinos, elephants, dolphins, gharials, and hundreds of bird species.

At present, about 50 hotels and homestays are operating in Bardiya. If each hotel/homestay has an average of 14 rooms and each room accommodates an average of 2 guests, the total lodging capacity is 1,400 guests per night.

• 50 hotels × 14 rooms × 2 guests per room = 1,400 guests per night

Source:  The Kathmandu Post (03/03/2025); AARP Travel Center 

Meanwhile, Krishnasar Conservation Area does not have sufficient hotel infrastructure. 

Visitors return to hotels near Bardiya National Park after day trips because there are no resorts, homestays, or restaurants in the Krishnasar conservation zone.  

Ramu KC - Ranger - cited in The Kathmandu Post 26/9/2026

This raises an important question:

• Are the approximately 50 hotels and homestays currently in operation actually necessary?

👉  This analysis calculates hotel demand based solely on tourists coming to Bardiya National Park and the Krishnasar Conservation Area. Hotel revenue from weddings, training, conferences, local events, or other sources is not included here.

This analysis uses a realistic tourist projection for Bardiya National Park and the Krishnasar Conservation Area. 

For how this blog came up with these numbers, please read: 

• Tourism in Bardiya: Data and Future
• Krishnasar Insights: Data for Conservation & Tourism

Since the Krishnasar Conservation Area lacks adequate accommodation facilities, not all tourists visiting there will stay locally. For this analysis, it is estimated that 50% of Krishnasar tourists return to the Bardiya area to stay.

Based on this:

👉 This means Bardiya's hotel system may need to serve approximately 31,500 tourists annually, both directly and indirectly.

The following assumptions are used in this analysis.

According to Bardiya's seasonal pattern, April is the busiest month. Based on data from recent years, approximately 15.43% of annual tourists are estimated to arrive this month.

👉 If every hotel were fully occupied, about 9–10 hotels could meet demand during peak season.

However, in the real tourism market, hotels are never 100% occupied. Some rooms remain empty, tourists are distributed among different hotels, and service levels vary. Therefore, including the occupancy rate gives a more realistic picture.

👉 This shows that even when considering peak season demand, the Bardiya–Krishnasar tourism system can be comfortably served by approximately 15–19 hotels.

Currently, it is estimated that around 50 hotels and homestays are operating in the Bardiya area.

👉 This suggests that the current hotel supply is likely well above estimated tourist demand.

Tourist arrivals are not like before.  Economic slowdown could be a factor for lower tourist enthusiasm this year (2025).

Krishna Prasad Bhattarai cited in The Kathmandu Post 01/01/2026

👉 This does not mean all hotels are empty. In the real market, some hotels may operate at high occupancy rates due to location, service quality, reputation, management capability, and customer experience, while others may struggle to attract guests.

Bardiya's main challenge is not a shortage of hotels; rather, it is the effective utilization of existing capacity. If new hotels continue to be added while tourist length of stay remains limited to around 2 nights, competition may become even more intense.

Instead, focus on:

• Combining Bardiya–Krishnasar tour packages
• Birdwatching tourism
• Research and educational tourism
• Film and documentary tourism
• Off-season activities
• Tharu culture-based experiential programs
• River tourism and dolphin watching
• Multi-day nature and wildlife study programs

👉 Bardiya's real opportunity lies not in adding more rooms, but in encouraging the same tourist to stay additional days.