Pioneer hotelier Ambika Shrestha passes away

Kathmandu: Ambika Shrestha, the owner of one of the finest hotels in the country Dwarika’s Hotel, passed away on Thursday, leaving a significant footprint in Nepal’s hospitality sector. She was 92.

She has a significant contribution to developing Dwarika’s Hotel as a ‘sanctuary for the architectural grandeur of the Newari civilization’. Different personalities have expressed their heartfelt condolences on Shrestha’s demise stating that her demise was an irreparable loss to the country’s tourism sector.

Tourism entrepreneur Basanta Mishra said that Shrestha was a rare gem who had great expertise in marketing and promoting the tourism business.”There will be a gap in Nepal’s tourism sector after Shrestha’s passing away,” Mishra narrated Shrestha’s contribution adding that the new generation has learned a lot from Shrestha.

Chairman of Hotel Association of Nepal Binayak Shah said the country has lost a true advocate for tourism development. Shrestha has also made significant contributions to conservation of heritage through the Nepal Heritage Society. 

Besides tourism, Shrestha was a champion for women’s entrepreneurship development and empowerment. “For Nepal’s tourism sector, Ambika Shrestha is an iconic leader. She is a symbol of tourism deity in Nepal,” another tourism entrepreneur Karna Shakya said.

Likewise, former CEO of Nepal Tourism Board Dipak Raj Joshi stated that Nepal’s tourism sector lost a guardian. Active in the hospitality and tourism business for the past 65 years, Ambika was leading Dwarika’s Hotel since 1991. —