Solukhumbu: Tourist traffic in the world’s highest peak Mt Everest region has increased by 70 percent this year. As compared to the first five months of the last fiscal year 2078/079 BS, it is found that the number of visitors to the Everest region has increased by 70.17 percent during the same period of the current fiscal year 2079/80 BS.
According to data from the office of Everest National Park Namche, 7,464 tourists visited Khumbu in the first five months of last year, while 25,029 people visited Khumbu during the same period of the current year. Manoj Mandal, information officer of the Park informed that 385 tourists visited Khumbu in Srawan, 690 in Bhadra, 6,731 in Ashoj, 13,158 in Kartik and 4,065 in Mangsir.
According to Mandal, 21,853 foreigners and 3,176 Nepali tourists visited the Everest region in five months. Among the foreign tourists visiting, 1,990 are from SAARC countries and 10,863 from other countries.
The park has collected Rs 3 crore 55 lakh revenue from tourist entry fees in five months. The Park takes entry fee of Rs 3,000 per person from foreign countries, while Rs 1,500 from citizens of SAARC countries and Rs 100 from Nepalis.
Last year, due to the COVID-19 lockdown and the risk of infection, tourist traffic was low in the Everest region.
Established in 2032 BS, Everest National Park is spread over an area of 1,148 square kilometers. In this national park located in the Solukhumbu district of eastern Nepal, the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest, is also home to snow peaks such as Lhotse, Nupse, Choyu, Lhotsesar, Pumori, Amadablam, Thamserku, which are more than 6,000 meters high.
