Foreign tourists to Upper Mustang decline

By Harikrishna Sharma,Muktinath (Mustang), Jan. 3: The number of foreign tourists visiting Upper Mustang declined in 2025 compared to 2024.

The fall in arrivals is mainly attributed to security concerns, after the Gen-Z protests and a jail break led many tourists planning to visit the region in October this year to cancel their bookings.

According to Umesh Paudel, chief of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) Area Office in Lo Manthang, 3,872 foreign tourists visited Upper Mustang in 2025, down from 4,093 in 2024. This represents a decrease of 221 visitors in one year.

Tourists visited various destinations in Upper Mustang, including Chhusang of Baragung Muktikshetra Rural Municipality-3, Lo Manthang, and areas under Lo-Ghekar Damodar Kunda Rural Municipality. 

Among foreign visitors last year, the highest number came from France, with 365 tourists. In 2024, the number of French visitors stood at 436.

Paudel said that only 62 foreign tourists visited Upper Mustang in 2020, while the number increased to 337 in 2021 and surged to 3,464 in 2023. “Tourists visiting Upper Mustang usually reach as far as the border area. 

They spend much of their time exploring palaces, caves and monasteries,” he said. “The peak seasons are October and April, when tourist arrivals are the highest.”

Most tourists travelling to Upper Mustang via Kagbeni in Lower Mustang come from European countries, including France, the United States, Germany and Italy. This year, however, many tourists cancelled their trips at the last moment in October due to the Gen-Z protests, resulting in a slight decline in overall numbers.

Foreign tourists generally plan their visits during October and November for trekking and sightseeing, and in April to observe the Tiji festival in Upper Mustang.

Visitors from SAARC countries are required to pay an ACAP entry fee of Rs. 1,000, while tourists from other countries must pay Rs. 3,000. In addition, foreign tourists must pay a daily fee of US$ 100 to the Department of Immigration for the duration of their stay, with a reduced fee of US$ 50 per day for visits exceeding 10 days.

Local tourism entrepreneurs have been calling for a reduction in fees and the removal of fixed time limits, saying that after the government scrapped the earlier requirement to pay US$ 500 upfront for a 10-day stay, tourists may no longer opt for longer visits as before.

To make travel easier, ACAP Lo Manthang has installed information boards, signposts and hoarding boards across the region to help tourists identify destinations.

Foreign visitors to Upper Mustang tend to spend more time exploring ancient cave settlements, monasteries, the Lo Manthang Palace, traditional mud-built villages and the region’s unique culture, lifestyle and heritage, rather than the Korala border area.

The government opened Upper Mustang to foreign tourists in 1992. However, citing the decline in tourist numbers due to high fees in the restricted area, elected representatives at the federal, provincial and local levels have repeatedly demanded a reduction in charges.