KATHMANDU: The number of tourists visiting Mustang has seen a significant decline in the first three months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period last year. According to the District Police Office, Mustang, the number of visitors dropped by 41.52 percent, falling from 118,685 during the period of Shrawan to Ashoj last year to 69,403 this year.
Police Inspector Ishwor Mahat stated that 30,534 tourists visited in Shrawan, 20,268 in Bhadra, and 18,601 in Ashoj this year. In comparison, the figures for the same months last year were 19,000, 23,205, and 75,599, respectively.
Suraj Gurung, president of the Muktinath Hotel Association, attributed the lack of tourist activity to natural disasters. He noted, ‘Mustang, which usually sees significant tourist movement every year in Ashoj and Kartik, is almost deserted this time.’
The decline is primarily linked to the destruction of the national pride project road, the Beni-Jomsom highway. The route remained completely blocked for over two weeks due to a devastating flood in the Bhotekoshi river in Rasuwa on Aug. 26 and heavy rainfall on Sept. 27. While the Beni-Jomsom road has been repaired by the Korala Road Project and brought back into operation, it has not yet fully returned to normal. During the period of total road closure, only a limited number of tourists reached Mustang via the Pokhara-Jomsom air route.
