Chitwan, January 22

The number of tourists visiting Chitwan National Park, a major tourist destination in Nepal, has plunged almost 50 per cent as a result of a series of unfavourable incidents in the country.

The powerful April 25 earthquake and the ongoing Madhes agitation have dealt a huge blow to Nepal’s tourism industry.

According to the national park, it received a total of 8,022 visitors between mid-December to mid-January in 2015/16, against 16,714 visitors in 2014/15 during the same period. Of the total visitors in Dec/Jan 2015/16, as many as 3,639 were visitors from western countries, 419 from SAARC countries and 3,964 were domestic tourists.

“As many as 8,887 tourists from western countries, 2,486 from SAARC countries and 5,341 from within the country visited the park in Dec/Jan 2014/15,” informed Chief Conservation Officer at the national park Ramchandra Kandel, adding, “Similarly, only 6,167 visited the park in Nov/Dec 2015/16 against 12,379 visitors during the month of Nov/Dec in the 2014/15.

The national park’s revenue has dropped significantly due to the slump in tourist arrivals. While the park collected a total revenue of Rs 246.237 from 178,257 tourists in the last fiscal, while the total collection in the first six months of the current fiscal stands at Rs 41 million.