Humla hotels earn nearly Rs. 70m during Kailash–Manasarovar season

By Rajan Rawat

Humla, Oct. 20: Hotels in Simkot and Hilsa have earned almost Rs. 70 million during this year’s Kailash–Manasarovar pilgrimage season, which lasted for four and a half months.

According to Mim Bahadur Tamang, president of the Hotel Entrepreneurs’ Association, 6,407 pilgrims, mostly from India, along with other foreign visitors, travelled through Humla for the Kailash–Manasarovar route from April to first week of July.

On average, each pilgrim spent a minimum of Rs. 10,500 on accommodation in Hilsa and Simkot.

Tamang’s own Hotel Potal earned more than Rs 7.8 million this season. There are currently eight hotels in Simkot and four in Hilsa that cater to pilgrims. 

Hotel owners say earnings ranged from Rs. 1.05 million to Rs. 7.875 million depending on capacity. 

Hotel entrepreneur Karma Lama of Hilsa said the season has brought strong recovery for the tourism sector after the COVID-19 downturn.

China reopened the Hilsa border point on 18 Baisakh 2081, but had initially barred Indian pilgrims from travelling to Kailash. 

Permission was granted from April 30, 2024 after which large numbers of pilgrims began entering via Nepalgunj, then flying or trekking to Simkot and onward to Hilsa. 

The Humla route is one of the shortest for the pilgrimage.