Known as the world’s best trekking route, the Annapurna Trail has been visited by more tourists than ever in 2023. That year, 191 thousand 558 tourists from 173 countries visited the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) head of Pokhara. Ravin Kandaria informed. He said, ‘This number is the highest so far. In the year 2022, 129,733 people visited the footpath.
97,554 tourists from SAARC countries and 94,044 tourists from other countries have visited the trail. Most of them came from India, 96,000. Similarly, 8,526 tourists from France, 7,641 from Germany, 7,249 from America, 7,174 from Britain and 6,323 tourists from China have visited the Annapurna region. The footpath, which has slowed down since 2020 due to Corona, has taken up the old rhythm since last year and has attracted more tourists than ever.
Two lakh tourists from 173 countries, the most in history, on the Annapurna trail
Pathways being destroyed in the name of development
A decade ago, it took 20-21 days to complete the Annapurna Round Pathway. However, Tirtharaj Subedi, secretary of Nepal Trekking Association (TAN) Gandaki, said that it will be completed during the week. He said that due to the digging of roads everywhere in the name of development, the time for hiking has decreased and this has also shortened the stay of tourists. Subedi says that the local government and concerned agencies have not paid attention to the promotion and infrastructure development of that area. He said, ‘In order to increase the number of hikers, it is necessary to protect the existing hiking trails and search for new places to build and organize the necessary infrastructure.’
Most of the tourists going on the Annapurna cycle trek have reached the Annapurna base camp. Bharatman Gurung, spokesperson of the rural municipality, says that the rural municipality has started the necessary work on how to organize the footpath leading to the Annapurna base camp in the Annapurna Rural Municipality of Kaski. According to him, the municipality is working on the construction of necessary infrastructures at various places along the footpaths and the work of protecting those who are there, building stairs in difficult places, construction of suspension bridges and allocating the necessary budget based on the demands of the wards and local tourism professionals. In addition, he said that the final preparations are being made for the operation of the tourism information center in Birethanti. He says that they are working on how to create an environment for tourists who have come again.
Two lakh tourists from 173 countries, the most in history, on the Annapurna trail
The number of tourists visiting the Annapurna region has increased,
but the number of hikers has decreased, but the number of hikers has decreased. Ravin Kandaria said. He said that the increase in the number of tourists from SAARC countries and more than 95 percent of them being Indians means that the number of trekkers is decreasing. He informed that since Muktinath temple is also located in this area, most of the Indians will return after visiting the temple. Tourists from countries other than SAARC are decreasing. He estimated that the number of tourists from other countries is decreasing due to dust and landslides due to road construction on the hiking route. Since 2019, the number of tourists from other countries coming to the footpath is decreasing. In 2019, the number of 133,000 is limited to 94,000 in 2023. In 2019, the number of tourists from SAARC countries was 46,000 and in 2023, that number reached 97,000. Since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Muktinath temple four years ago, the number of Indians is increasing every year.
37 crore 95 lakh 66 thousand revenue collection for entrance fee Thousands of crores of revenue has been collected from the footpath and thousands of people have got employment. However, the local tourism professionals complain that no attention has been paid to its protection and development. Lalit Gurung, president of Annapurna Century Tourism Committee Ghandruk, says, ‘Government has given importance to this area as it should prioritize development and conservation along with its promotion, but that has not happened.’ He said that if thousands of people go abroad for employment every day, if necessary development can be done in other paths, many of them will get employment in the country.
In the year 2023, 37.95 million 66 thousand revenue has been collected from tourists going to the footpath. ACAP charges 1,000 entry fee from tourists from SAARC countries and 3,000 entry fee from tourists from other countries. The concerned municipalities along with the locals have been protesting that ACAP has not spent the collected fee on building bridges at necessary places, repairing roads, adding necessary infrastructure etc.
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