Over 325,000 tourists enter Mustang in seven months, 5 pc less than last year

MUSTANG, Feb 20: A total of 325,558 tourists have entered Mustang during the first seven months of the current fiscal year. According to the District Police Office, from Shrawan to Magh (mid-July to mid-February) of the current fiscal year, 69,814 foreign and 252,664 domestic tourists visited Mustang.

According to the District Police Office, via the nationally prioritized Beni–Jomsom road corridor, 19,781 tourists entered in Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August), 23,205 in Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September), 75,599 in Ashoj (mid-September to mid-October), 83,766 in Kartik (mid-October to mid-November), 49,050 in Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December), 39,153 in Poush (mid-December to mid-January), and 32,004 in Magh (mid-January to mid-February).

During the same seven-month period last year, 340,729 foreign and domestic tourists visited Mustang. Police data show that compared to the same period last fiscal year, 18,171 fewer tourists (5.33 percent) entered this year.

According to Police Inspector Navaraj Neupane of the District Police Office, records of foreign and domestic tourists entering Mustang via the road at Ghasa, on the Myagdi–Mustang border, are maintained there. Subordinate police units collect records of tourists entering Mustang via the Pokhara–Jomsom air service and those crossing Thorong La Pass through Manang.

According to District Police Office data, 454,326 domestic and foreign tourists visited Mustang in fiscal year 2080/81, while 705,779 tourists entered in fiscal year 2081/82.

In recent years, as the nationally prioritized Beni–Jomsom–Korala road has gradually improved annually, the rate of tourist arrivals in Mustang has been increasing. Among tourists from SAARC countries entering Mustang, most Indian visitors return after offering prayers at Muktinath Temple. Other foreign tourists enter Mustang via the Beni–Jomsom road and by crossing Thorong La Pass through Manang.

The number of domestic tourists visiting Kagbeni to perform Shraddha rituals for ancestral salvation and to offer prayers at Muktinath Temple has also been increasing. Of the total tourists entering Mustang, about three percent of foreign visitors travel to Upper Mustang. Recently, after the Jomsom–Korala road became more accessible, a significant number of domestic tourists have been reaching the Korala border point.