July 24: The number of tourists visiting Mustang increased by 45 percent during the last fiscal year, according to a report published by the state-owned  RSS.    
Jomsom-based Area Conservation Office under the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) told RSS that the arrival of tourists in Mustang increased by 45.75 percent in the fiscal year 2022/23 compared to the previous fiscal year (FY 2021/22).    
ACAP Jomsom In-charge Ashok Subedi informed RSS that a total of 71,707 foreign tourists had entered Mustang in the fiscal 2022/23.    
"The data shows considerable rise in the inflow of tourists before and after COVID-19," he shared, adding, "Altogether 38,896 tourists had entered Mustang in the year 2021/22.    
Compared to the previous fiscal year, 32,811 more tourists visited Mustang in the FY 2022/23.”    
According to ACAP, as many as 59,310 tourists arrived in the district from SAARC member countries and 6,749 tourists from third countries in the last fiscal year.
In the review year, a total of 3,388 tourists visited Upper Mustang which is a semi-prohibited area.    
The influx of tourists had increased in Mustang last year owing to the favourable weather, easy road access, facilities of hotels and lodges and nominal incidents of natural disasters, RSS reported.