159,000 tourists visit Chitwan National Park in ten months

By Our correspondent Chitwan, June 6: It has been found that the tourism sector in Chitwan has been supported by domestic tourists. Entrepreneurs have said that the tourism sector here is dominated by Nepalese as domestic tourists are more active in visiting the parks and staying in hotels. Tourists coming to Chitwan have been going on safari in the park from Sauraha.

According to the Chitwan National Park Office, the number of Nepalese visiting the forest has reached 136,522 in the last 10 months. Ganesh Prasad Tiwari, information officer of the park office, said that there is a larger population of Nepali tourists who visit the park.

SAARC countries and low foreign numbers of tourists are visiting the park. According to Tiwari, there are more foreign tourists than SAARC countries' tourists. He also said, the number of tourists who have visited the park is 12,425 and tourists from SAARC countries from last July to April is 10,934.

According to the office, majority of Nepalis visit the park during the months of April and December. Deepak Bhattarai, president of the Sauraha Regional Hotel Association, said that they would visit Sauraha on the occasion of the New Year. He said that the number of tourists visiting Sauraha has increased due to the New Year and various programmes and seminars at the same time. In December, 20,855 people had visited; in April, 20,869 people had visited.

"In the last 10 months, 159,881 tourists have visited the park," stated information officer Tiwari. In other words, in ten months, it has generated Rs. 91.91 million in revenue. 

Bhattarai, president of the Sauraha Regional Hotel Association, said, "We cannot just wait for foreign tourists to come because if there is a shortage of domestic tourists then the business will collapse” 

Bishwa Subedi, Secretary General of the Chitwan Tourism Development Committee, stated that attracting international visitors is impossible without good infrastructure and public awareness about new sites and facilities. "We should be able to create an environment in which we can live comfortably and enjoy ourselves."

The main choice of tourists visiting Chitwan is to visit Sauraha and the park. Apart from them, Subedi believes that there are other sites in the district where they can reach in a friendly environment, and that hotels and other amenities should be made available to them.