By Abinash Chaudhary
Dhangadhi, Dec. 2: The tourism sector, which has been deserted due to the increasing number of COVID-19 infections for almost two years, has been booming in Kailali and Kanchanpur.
With the decline of COVID-19 infections, the number of tourists visiting tourist destinations has increased. Meanwhile, domestic tourists have started arriving in the main tourist areas of the Kailali and Kanchanpur districts.
With the onset of winter, domestic tourists have started flocking to Karnali Bridge in Chisapani, Tikapur Park in Tikapur Municipality, Ghodaghodi Lake in Ghodaghodi Municipality, Koilahi Lake in Kailari Rural Municipality and Jakhor Lake in Dhangadhi.

Ritu Chaudhary of Tikapur Municipality said that people who were forced to stay indoors due to the COVID-19 restrictions are now interested in moving around. “I also like to walk and I came to visit Karnali Bridge with my friends,” she said while visiting Chisapani last Saturday. Lately, the number of people visiting the Karnali Bridge has increased.
There is also a crowd of picnickers in the tourist area at this time. Youths, students, women's groups and members of cultural groups of the club, who have raised money by performing cultural dance during the festivals, are reaching the area to organise a picnic.

According to Bhakta Bahadur Chalaune, Ward Chairman of Lamkichuha Municipality-3, the crowd has started increasing after most of the people from the picnic group started coming to the tourist areas for sightseeing.
“Our Chisapani is still very crowded on Saturdays,” he said, adding there was no movement for almost two years due for fear of coronavirus infection, "but now the flow of people has increased.”

Despite the increase in the number of people in Chisapani, business is still insufficient, Chairman Chalaune said. “There have been a lot of negative rumours about the area due to some recent criminal incidents in Tikapur, Lamki,” he said. “That's why people who come to visit do not want to go to hotels or restaurants. The crowd of people has increased, but there is no business,” he explained.

There is a crowd of people visiting Tikapur Park, Koilahi Lake and Jakhor Lake for picnics. These areas have been full of domestic tourists since the end of the festival season.
Similarly, tourists have started visiting Shuklaphanta National Park, a major tourist destination in the Far-West in Kanchanpur. Foreign tourists are also flocking to this park, which is famous for its sightseeing.
It is said that tourists from Austria visited Shuklaphanta only last week. Similarly, some domestic tourists including Indians have also started visiting Shuklaphanta.

Chief Conservation Officer of the Park Kishor Mehata said that tourists started coming in crowds after the Shuklaphanta National Park reopens for tourists, which was closed for almost two years during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Tourism here is slowly gaining momentum,” he said. However, there is a concern that the new variant of COVID-19 might affect it again.
Tourists visiting the place are getting to see tigers. The number of tigers in the park has increased to 19, he informed.

After the tourist movement started in Shuklaphanta National Park, the nature guide working there has also got a job.
Nature guide Kum Thakur said that they have not had to sit empty lately. “We are getting some work all the time,” he said.

Similarly, the number of people visiting Linga in Bedkot Municipality of the same district has also increased. People from different places of Kailali and Kanchanpur have been reaching Linga.