July 19: With the increase in arrival of tourists, there has been a significant increase in the number of people visiting protected areas such as wildlife reserves and national parks of the country.

Compared to the fiscal year (FY) 2020/21, there has been a significant increase in the number of tourists visiting these areas in FY 2021/22.

According to the 'Nepal Tourism Statistics 2022' published by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation a few days ago, the number of tourists visiting the country's protected areas, hunting reserves and national parks has increased.

As per the statistics of the FY 2021/22, altogether 75,608 tourists visited those areas. In the previous year, this number was 11,847.

The number of tourists visiting national parks, hunting reserves and wildlife reserves had decreased after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. In the FY 2019/20, before the corona virus appeared, 260,875 tourists visited these areas. Since then, the number of tourists going to those areas had gradually decreased until it recently when the visitors started increasing.

So far, 20 different areas of the country have been opened for tourists to visit, hunt, and see wild animals. National parks in Chitwan, Bardia, Langtang, Sagarmatha, Rara, She-Phoksundo, Khaptad, Makalu, Shivpuri-Nagarjun and Banke have been opened for tourists except during the rainy season.

Similarly, Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, Koshi-Tappu and Parsa wildlife reserves have also been opened for tourists. Similarly, Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve is the one and only hunting area in the country.

Manasalu, Krishnasar, Apinampa, Kanchenjunga, Annapurna and Gaurishankar conservation areas have also been opened for tourists. According to the data released by the ministry, more than 400,000 tourists visited these 20 areas in the FY 2018/19.

In the years since then, there has been a decrease in the number of tourists visiting these areas. The ministry has mentioned that this number has gradually increased since the FY 2021/22.

Although the government has so far opened 20 areas for visitors, most of them are attracted to Chitwan and Everest national parks. Besides those two areas, most of the tourists prefer to visit Annapurna Conservation Area, Shivpuri-Nagarjun, Bardia and Langtang national parks and Gaurishankar Conservation Area respectively.