Mustang Welcomes Over 325,000 Tourists in First Seven Months of Current Fiscal Year

Mustang. A total of 325,558 tourists entered Mustang in the first seven months of the current fiscal year. According to the District Police Office, 69,814 foreign and 252,664 domestic tourists visited Mustang from Shrawan to Magh of the current fiscal year.

According to the District Police Office, tourists entered Mustang via the national pride Beni-Jomsom road route as follows: 19,781 in Shrawan, 23,205 in Bhadra, 75,599 in Asoj, 83,766 in Kartik, 49,050 in Mangsir, 39,153 in Poush, and 32,024 in Magh, comprising both foreign and domestic visitors.

During the same period last year, from Shrawan to Magh, 340,729 foreign and domestic tourists visited Mustang. Police statistics indicate that compared to the first eight months of last year, there was a decrease of 18,171 tourists (5.33 percent) during the corresponding period of the current fiscal year.

According to Police Inspector Navaraj Neupane of the District Police Office, records of foreign and domestic tourists entering Mustang via the road route at Ghansa, the border between Myagdi and Mustang, are being collected. Records of tourists entering Mustang via the Pokhara-Jomsom air service and those entering via the Thorong La pass from Manang are being collected by subordinate police units.

District Police Office statistics show that 454,326 domestic and foreign tourists visited Mustang in the fiscal year 2080/81 and 705,779 in the fiscal year 2081/82.

The increase in tourist arrivals in Mustang is attributed to the gradual improvement of the national pride Beni-Jomsom-Korala road every year. Among the tourists from SAARC nations visiting Mustang, most Indian tourists visit Muktinath before returning. Foreign tourists from other nations typically enter Mustang via the Beni-Jomsom road or by crossing Thorong La pass from Manang.

The number of domestic tourists coming to Mustang for ancestral rites (Shraddha) at Kagbeni Dham and for darshan at Muktinath Temple is also increasing. Three percent of the tourists visiting Mustang travel to Upper Mustang. Recently, with the improvement of the Jomsom-Korala road, a significant number of domestic tourists have been observed reaching the Korala border point.