Myagdi. One lakh 73 thousand tourists have visited Mustang in two months. According to the district police office, one lakh 44 thousand 155 domestic and 28 thousand 976 foreign tourists visited Mustang in October and October.
The office’s information officer, Police Inspector Bishal Adhikari, said that 59 thousand 831 tourists entered Mustang by air and land in Asoj and 1 lakh 13 thousand 300 tourists entered Mustang by air and land in Kartik.
The police keep a record of entry by road in Ghasa and by air at the check post at Jomsom Airport. In October, 57 thousand 982 people entered the Mustang via the Beni-Jomsom road and 1 thousand 849 people entered via the Pokhara-Jomsom air route, according to the police inspector.
According to the police statistics, 111,655 tourists reached Mustang by road and 1,645 tourists by air in Kattik. The number of people visiting Mustang during Dashain-Tihar festival and holidays is more in Asoj and Kartik than in other months.
According to hoteliers, a tourist spends an average of Rs 15,000 while visiting Mustang. According to Mohansingh Lalchan, chairman of Gharpazhong Rural Municipality, it is estimated that the economic turnover of the tourists who entered here in October and October is Rs.
Prem Prasad Paudel, Head of Tourism and Industry Office, Mustang, said that the 325 hotels in Mustang have the capacity to accommodate around 7,000 tourists in one day. However, the arrival of tourists has decreased in the past few days as the cold weather has increased with the onset of Mangsir. In the fiscal year 2080/81, 427,000 tourists visited Mustang and in 2079/080, 379,767 tourists visited Mustang.
Pramodaraj Regmi, head of Jomsom, Area Protection Office of Annapurna Conservation Area Project, said that the tourist arrival has increased due to road transport facilities, inclusion of the Annapurna Cycle Path as one of the world’s best ten destinations by world-famous media, publicity, digital marketing, and the opening of hotels with facilities.
Many of the foreign tourists entering Mustang are Indians. The deserted mountains, mountainous climate, culture and lifestyle, lakes, monasteries, Muktinath Temple, and caves are the attractions of Mustang. There are religious and tourist sites in Mustang including Muktinath, Jomsom, Kagbeni, Lomanthang, Marpha, Thini, and Dhumba Lake.
Tourists reach here by road via Myagdi, by foot via Thorangla Bhanjyang in Mustang, and by air from Pokhara. As the number of tourists from outside SAARC countries is decreasing, businessmen here are worried.
Lalchan, president of Gharpazhong, said that if the construction of the Beni-Jomsom road black paper plan, which is in the process of upgrading, is completed, the tourist arrival will increase.