Over 400, 000 tourists visited Mustang by road last year

MYAGDI: As many as 400, 000 tourists visited Mustang by road from April 14, 2023 to April 12, 2024, according to data with the Ghasa police station located on the transit point to Myagdi-Mustang.

The statistics show that 414, 280 domestic and foreign tourists visited Mustang during that period.

The number of domestic visitors entering Mustang via road is 335, 466, including 220, 724 men and 114, 742 women, said Deputy Superintendent Bhojraj Pandey, the Chief of the District Police Office Mustang.

Similarly, DSP Pandey said 78, 814 foreigners visited Mustang during that period. Among them, 72 thousand 756 are from the SAARC countries while 6058 are from countries other than the SAARC member states.

According to him, 38, 821 males and 33, 935 women from SAARC countries visited Mustang during the period. Similarly, 3,648 male and 2,410 female visitors from countries other than the SAARC member countries visited Mustang in the same period.

The data shows that 11, 484 tourists arrived in Mustang via air. Among them, 1,679 are domestic tourists (1,134 males and 545 female), 8,055 including 3,767 male and 4,288 females are from the SAARC countries and 1,750 visitors (886 male and 864 female) are from countries other than the SAARC member countries.

Known as the district beyond the Himalayas, Mustang is a prime tourism destination known for its iconic desert-like landscape. The bare mountains, Himalayan climate, culture and lifestyle, lakes, monasteries, Muktinath temple, caves are the attractions of Mustang.

Inflow of tourists to the religious and tourist places of Mustang including Muktinath, Jomsom, Kagbeni, Lomanthang, Marpha, Thini, Dhumba Lake has gradually started increasing since last year, according to local tourism entrepreneurs.