JOMSOM: More than 57,000 foreigners visited Mustang district in 2019, the Jomsom Office of Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) said.

According to ACAP Chief Tulasi Dahal, a total of 57,565 foreigners visited Mustang last year.

The ACAP has been maintaining records of foreigners visiting the district from its offices at Kagbeni and Jomsom.

The office, however, said that the number of tourists visiting the district in 2019 has decreased compared to the previous year.

In 2018, a total of 59,838 visitors visited Mustang, the Himalayan district.

Ram Bahadur Gurung, a hotelier from Lho Mananthang, said that the change of trekking route into a motorable road and fee hike in Upper Mustang is to blame for decrease in tourists’ arrival.

Indian tourists make the largest portion of visiting Muktinath, which is a common religious destination for both the Hindus and Buddhists.

Records show that the visitors from SAARC countries have increased in the district while the arrival of the visitors from the western countries in on the decline.

Nearly, 4,000 tourists have visited Upper Mustang, ‘the semi-prohibited zone’, during the review period.