Mustang. The Government of Nepal has collected Rs 291.11 million in revenue from foreign tourists who visited Upper Mustang in the fiscal year 2081/82 BS.

The Department of Immigration of the Government of Nepal has been able to collect the revenue for the visit of 4,219 foreign tourists to Upper Mustang.

As the government has listed Upper Mustang as a prohibited and controlled area, tourists visiting Upper Mustang have to obtain an entry permit as a high-level tourist. The Department of Immigration charges $500 as a 10-day permit for foreign tourists going there. Foreign tourists going there without permission are considered to have entered illegally.

Foreign tourists going there after paying the prescribed fee to the government and taking permission will have to pay an additional fee of $ 50 per day after the end of 10 days. Last year, the government collected $2.1 million in revenue from foreign tourists.

It has been found that very few foreign tourists visit Upper Mustang as the government has declared the area above Kagbeni of Waragung Muktikshetra-4 as a prohibited and controlled area.

A total of 4,219 foreign tourists from 73 countries visited Upper Mustang during the 12 months of the fiscal year 2081/82 BS, said Umesh Poudel, chief of ACAP Lomanthang. A total of 436 French tourists visited Upper Mustang when a large number of foreign tourists arrived in Upper Mustang.

This number is 10.33 percent of the total number of foreign tourists. Similarly, the lowest number of foreign tourists from 12 countries visited Upper Mustang in the same year, according to ACAP Lomanthang Chief Poudel.

A total of 3,443 foreign tourists from 71 countries visited Upper Mustang in the fiscal year 2080/81 BS. At that time, 399 French tourists were among the total number of foreign tourists entering Upper Mustang. This number is 11.58 percent of the total tourists. Similarly, the lowest number of foreigners from seven countries visited Upper Mustang in the same year, according to data from ACAP Lomanthang.

A total of 66 foreign tourists from 15 countries have visited Upper Mustang from July 20 to July 14 of the current fiscal year. Among them, belgium has the highest number of 13 tourists and the lowest is one foreign tourist from Luxembourg. A total of 150,456 foreign tourists had entered Mustang from Mid-July to Mid-July of the fiscal year 2081/82 BS. According to the data, only 2.80 percent of the foreign tourists have entered Upper Mustang as compared to the number of foreign tourists entering the country.

Office Chief Umesh Poudel said that there has been an increase of 18.39 percent in the fiscal year 2081/82 as compared to the fiscal year 2080/81. People’s representatives and tourism entrepreneurs of Upper Mustang are unhappy that the tourism business of Upper Mustang has collapsed due to the continuation of the prohibited zone there. The government’s attention has been repeatedly drawn to the demand to open the prohibited areas maintained there.