Myagdi. The influx of tourists to the Annapurna Base Camp that began in the last week of October has not stopped even in the first week of November. No one could have imagined that so many tourists would come to these two places this year.

Hotels in Mustang, Myagdi, Baglung and Parbat have been packed in the last few days. Accommodation management has become challenging for hotel operators. The Mustang and Annapurna Base Camp are the choice of school and college students, youths, employees, banks and financial institutions and those who have come to their birthplace for celebrating the festivals. The tourist destinations of these four districts are the choice of those who travel by land route.

Muktinath of Mustang district has become the first destination for domestic tourists. For those arriving in Mustang, they visit Korala Naka, Lomanthang Durbar, Chhoser Cave, Chiusi Cave, Charang Gumba, Marang Gumba, Kagbeni, Dhumba Tal and Marpha village. More than 8 lakh domestic and 1.5 lakh foreign tourists visit Mustang every year.

MYAGDI: Those interested in a simultaneous adventure in the hilly and mountainous regions have reached the base camp of Mount Annapurna at Annapurna Rural Municipality-4 in Myagdi district. Annapurna Base Camp at an altitude of 4,190 meters is reached through the Phutphute waterfall and the blue-coloured Panchakunda Lake at the foothills of Annapurna Himal. You can reach the base camp in three days. The Annapurna Base Camp is located in the plains of the foothills of the Nilgiri and Annapurna mountains.

Eight thousand people enter Mustang via Myagdi via road route every day while the number of people visiting Annapurna Base Camp is over five hundred. Hari Krishna Shrestha, a hotel entrepreneur of Beni, said that the number of tourists visiting Annapurna Base Camp and Mustang this year was more than the capacity of the existing hotels.

“Although there has been a large number of visitors to Muktinath and Upper Mustang during the Dashain and Tihar festivals, the number of visitors to Annapurna Base Camp has increased this time, which has resulted in the hotels, restaurants and homestays,” he said. ’

The administration, security agencies, hotel entrepreneurs and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Myagdi and Mustang have urged the visitors to come by booking in advance and make arrangements for accommodations in hotels, people’s houses, community buildings and dharamshalas in Kushma, Baglung and Pokhara. Hotels in Myagdi have the capacity to accommodate up to two thousand guests on a daily basis while Mustang has the capacity to accommodate up to three thousand guests per day.

According to Raju Hamal, a hotel entrepreneur at Bhurung-Tatopani Trekking Route, the Maurice Herzog trekking route linking Annapurna Base Camp, and hotels in Myagdi and Mustang have been booked until the end of this week. “Although the number of visitors coming to the festival has decreased as schools, colleges and offices will be opened after Chhath, the occupancy is good,” he said. ’

President of Myagdi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Subin Shrestha, said that the Mustang and Annapurna Base Camp have become the preferred destinations for the domestic tourists due to easy access to road and publicity. “Mustang is the choice of many people for the pilgrimage to Muktinath and Kagbeni, to see the mountains, desolate hills and lakes, to enjoy the mountain life and culture, and to reach Korala border point by vehicle,” he said. ’

According to Shrestha, the social media materials and news disseminated in the media have also helped in the publicity of the tourist spots. He said that the arrival of tourists has motivated the hoteliers to increase their capacity and facilities in Myagdi and Mustang, showing the possibility of new investment, and has put pressure on the state to increase the capacity of hotels with limited capacity along the trekking route of Annapurna Base Camp.

He said that it would be easier to manage the tourists if they book in advance. Tourists have said that the upgradation of incomplete road of Myagdi section of Beni-Jomsom road should be completed, the roads in the landslide and erosion affected areas should be made safe and the hotel should be classified and service charge should be regularized.

Tourists visiting Annapurna Base Camp have pointed out the need of maintenance of Narchyang-Humkhola road, uniformity in transport fare, capacity of trekking route hotels and management of communication and electricity facilities.

Hari Bahadur Bhandari, a member of the Gandaki Province Assembly elected from Myagdi-1 (A), pledged to identify problems seen in the tourism sector by coordinating with all three tiers of governments, the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), private sector and stakeholders.