Kathmandu, February 28

Kuri, a small hill station village located at Kalinchowk Rural Municipality of Dolakha district, is currently welcoming more than 1,000 domestic tourists a day after the region received light snowfall.

Although the number of tourists arriving at Kuri has increased compared to previous months, it is still down by over 60 per cent during the same period in the previous years, stakeholders say. Tourism entrepreneurs have pointed at the delay and lack of snowfall in the region, among other factors, to be the reasons behind the low number of tourist arrivals in the region this year.

According to Ashok Siwakoti, chief executive officer of Kalinchowk Darshan Ltd, although many come to Kuri to visit the Kalinchowk Bhagwati Temple for religious purposes, even more people throng the region in the dead of winter and the ground would normally be covered in deep snow.

'The region witnessed snow flurries a few days ago, which has resulted in increased tourist activities in Kuri. Although many tourists visit Kuri between December and March to enjoy the snowfall and indulge in activities like skiing and snowboarding, the delay in snowfall in the region this year has affected the tourist flow. The decrease in the spending capacity of the people in recent times may also be attributed to the low number of tourist arrivals. The village used to see over 5,000 tourists during the weekends but the number has dropped to just over 2,000 at present,' Siwakoti told The Himalayan Times.

'Of the total tourists who visit the region, over 85 per cent are domestic tourists while the remaining tourists include Indians, Chinese, and some Malaysians, among other foreign nationals. Most Indian tourists visit the region for religious purposes, whereas many foreign nationals are not aware of this place, and account for less than five per cent of total tourists who visit Kuri. Although the whole tourism sector has been gravely affected following the COVID-19 pandemic, our inability to properly promote Kuri as a tourist destination in the global market has resulted in the flow of international tourists here remaining relatively low,' he opined.

Meanwhile, Santa Bir Tamang, chairman of Dolakha Kalinchowk Resort, reiterated that the number of domestic tourist flow has increased compared to previous months following the recent snowfall in the region and added that the arrivals are, however, significantly lower compared to previous years.

'We used to see many tourists coming to Kuri to try skiing and enjoy the snow-covered scenery of the village. Although we have a skiing team who assist tourists to enjoy such sports during their visit, the lack of heavy snowfall in the region has also dampened such business opportunities,' he shared.

Tamang also stressed the need to further develop physical infrastructure in terms of road connectivity and increased power supply to the village in order to facilitate proper services to attract foreign tourists into the region.

'While there are around 100 households in the village, about 70 of them are dependent on tourism for their primary source of income. But only a handful of hotels and lodges provide standard facilities to cater to and attract international tourists. The government needs to assist in proper promotion of tourist destinations like Kuri and also increase electricity supply to the village, which could help businesses to upgrade their facilities,' he told The Himalayan Times.

Lali Tamang (name altered upon request), a resident of Dolakha district and a driver by profession, has stored his jeep in a garage for the past few months and switched to taking care of his farmland.

Lali said the number of tourists seeking his services to visit Kuri has decreased to about just a handful even in the seasonal months, forcing him to head to his fields out of boredom.

'Until a few years ago, there used to a queue of people waiting to use our services to take them up to Kuri. At present, there are not many tourists and not many drivers going up and down the village. However, a few jeeps and tuk-tuks still make a few rounds to cater to the visitors,' he said.

Moreover, there are no records of any visitors who visit Kuri due to the lack of a checkpoint in the region. According to Tamang, a checkpoint has been recently established but is only scheduled to come into operation from mid- April.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 1, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.