April 19: Over 400,000 tourists visited Mustang in a one-year period from April 14, 2023 to April 12, 2024 by road, according to the data with the Ghasa police station located on the border of Myagdi and Mustang districts.

The statistics show that 414,280 domestic and foreign tourists visited Mustang during the review period.

The number of domestic tourists entering Mustang via road stood at 335,466, including 220,724 male and 114,742 female, said Deputy Superintendent  of Police Bhojraj Pandey, the chief of the District Police Office, Mustang.

Similarly, DSP Pandey said 78,814 foreigners visited Mustang during the review period. Among them, 72,756 were from the SAARC countries while 6058 were from countries other than the SAARC member states.

According to him, 38,821 males and 33,935 females from SAARC countries visited Mustang during the review period. Similarly, 3,648 male and 2,410 female visitors from countries other than the SAARC member countries visited Mustang in the same period.

The data shows that 11,484 tourists arrived in Mustang via air. Among them, 1,679 were domestic tourists (1,134 males and 545 females) while 8,055 (including 3,767 males and 4,288 females) were from the SAARC countries and 1,750 visitors (886 males and 864 females) were from countries other than the SAARC member states.

Often referred to as the district beyond the Himalayas, Mustang is a prime tourism destination known for its iconic desert-like landscape. The bare mountains, Himalayan climate, culture and lifestyle, lakes, monasteries, Muktinath temple, caves are the major attractions of Mustang.

Inflow of tourists to the religious and tourist places of Mustang including Muktinath, Jomsom, Kagbeni, Lo Manthang, Marpha, Thini, Dhumba Lake has gradually started increasing since last year, according to local tourism entrepreneurs. -- RSS