Nepal’s hospitality industry, mainly food and accommodation, generates more than Rs326 billion annually, according to a new survey released on Wednesday.

The comprehensive National Hotel and Restaurants Survey conducted by the National Statistics Office shows there are 142,223 establishments—hotels, lodges, resorts, homestays, guest houses, hostels, restaurants and party venues—across the country.

The input of these establishments, like hotel rooms, hotel staff, furniture, food, and workers’ salaries, amounts to Rs216.73 billion.

They in turn generate Rs109.27 billion in gross income annually.

“Our study shows that the average margin of the establishments is 20 percent, which is good in the hospitality industry. But the average profit margin of the Bagmati province is a bit low,” said Hem Raj Regmi, deputy chief statistician and data curator at the National Statistics Office. This is the first comprehensive survey of Nepal’s hospitality industry conducted in two decades.

Hotel profit margins are calculated by determining the percentage of a hotel’s revenue after taking away all the costs associated with running the business, including staffing, marketing, maintenance, utilities, catering, waste, and more.

In hospitality, a margin of 15-20 percent is considered good. Between 25-35 percent is considered a healthy margin, while the average margin hovers close to 5-10 percent.

“The survey is based on the food and accommodation category and does not extensively cover the tourism industry and its impact on the economy,” said Regmi. “We are undertaking a separate survey of domestic tourists, for the first time in Nepal. This will help us determine tourism’s total impact on the national GDP,” he said.

The tourism industry’s contribution to the national GDP, excluding expenditures by domestic travellers, is estimated at 1.96 percent.

The survey shows that of the total output, establishments in the Bagmati province alone contribute Rs152.076 billion, followed by Rs45.16 billion in Koshi province and Rs40.22 billion in Lumbini province.

The survey said there are 116,100 rooms in establishments across the country. Of the total rooms, star hotels offer 8,496 room nights while non-star hotels and lodges offer 100,075 room nights. Similarly, 3,829 room nights are produced by resorts and 3,700 room nights by homestays.

According to the survey, restaurants across the country have 2.23 million single-sitting capacity, with almost half, or 1.03 million seats, noted in restaurants in the Bagmati province alone.

The average room rate of a standard hotel [single bed] in Nepal is Rs6,916. The standard rate in a resort is Rs7,459, and Rs1,476 in homestays.

Resorts in Koshi province have the highest Rs9,250 room rate, followed by hotels in Bagmati, which have an average of Rs8,288 in tariff.

Similarly, suite rooms are the most expensive in Koshi, averaging Rs34,270 per night, followed by Rs23,626 in Bagmati hotels.

Banks have poured a lot of money into hotels. According to the survey, the share of banks’ investment in hotels stands at 40 percent, followed by cooperatives at 27.3 percent, microfinance at 13.5 percent and individuals at 11.6 percent.

The gross fixed assets at the end of the year in Nepal's hospitality establishments are worth Rs543.25 billion.

Meanwhile, the annual wage and salaries of disbursement by these establishments is Rs20.61 billion, with the highest disbursement in Bagmati province of Rs12.63 billion.

These establishments employ 106,459 individuals.

Bagmati province has the highest number of employees, with 62,405 individuals, followed by 12,467 in Gandaki, 10,248 in Koshi, 9,852 in Lumbini, 6,192 in Madhesh, 3,602 in Sudhurpaschhim, and 1,694 in Karnali.

The total number of people engaged in the hospitality industry stands at 387,747.

Around 43 percent of workers in the industry are females.

The Bagmati province has 52,123 establishments, followed by 25,887 in Koshi, 20,158 in Lumbini, 16,976 in Gandaki, 11,740 in Madhesh, 8,228 in Sudhurpaschhim and 7,110 in Karnali.

The survey shows that respondents from the hospitality industry have a positive view of workplace safety.