Galkot (Baglung), July 27: The number of tourists visiting Dhorpatan, Nepal’s only hunting reserve area, has been increasing annually. According to the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve Office in Baglung, the number of internal tourists here rose by 8,000 in a year.
Ranger Sagar Subedi of the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve Office said that 23,692 tourists visited Dhorpatan in the fiscal year 2081/82 while such number was 15,573 in the previous fiscal year. Among the visitors, only 12 were the citizens from the SAARC member states and 213 were the nationals from other countries while rest of them are the internal tourists.
Subedi further explained that rise in the tourist numbers is due to increased promotion of Dhorpatan and improved tourism infrastructures. He added that the increase in tourists has also boosted revenue.
Nepali tourists visiting Dhorpatan should pay Rs 100 as an entry fee. More than two million rupees in revenue was collected from the entrance fees in the last fiscal year.
The growth in tourists is also due to popular trekking routes, said Subedi. While foreign tourists come mainly for hunting, the domestic tourists have been visiting to explore the hunting reserve area, Dhorpatan Valley, Niseldhor, Dhorbarah Temple, Bukipatan, Jaljala, and other sites.
Ram Bahadur Gharti, operator of Dhorpatan Community Homestay, shared that about two dozens of hotels and homestays are now offering services to the visitors in Dhorpatan Valley, and tourists can conveniently reach the area buying tour packages too.
