November 16, 2021

Tourists’ hustle and bustle increases in Bhaktapur

November 16, 2021

2 min read

The global outbreak of the coronavirus has badly affected Nepal’s tourism business. After a long time, the number of foreign tourists visiting the World Heritage Site has increased these days.

The municipality area, which is becoming a major attraction and destination for foreign tourists, now receives 60 to 90 tourists daily.

The number of Indian tourists is the highest among the tourists coming from Europe. Gautam Lasiwa, chief of the tourism information center of the municipality, said that the heritage of Bhaktapur, which was deserted without tourists, has now become more popular after the influx of foreign tourists.

Stating that the municipality has been spending the money raised from the tourism fee on education, health, and heritage conservation, he mentioned that millions of rupees have been lost in two years due to the epidemic of Covid-19.

Before the first lockdown, more than 3,000 tourists used to enter Bhaktapur daily and more than 200,000 annually. Last year, most of the tourists came from China, followed by India, the USA, France, Spain, and other countries.

The municipality has set up counters in 14 places to collect service charges from tourists. The last week of October, the end of November and the two weeks of December are considered tourist seasons in Nepal.

Tourists who come to Nepal in October and November return home at the end of December to celebrate Christmas. Considering it necessary to prolong the stay of tourists, Mayor Sunil Prajapati has put forward various projects after holding discussions with businessmen and concerned tourism stakeholders.