February 14, Pokhara: The number of foreign tourists has been declining every year since the corona infection in the Annapurna trekking area. In 2019, so far, 181,576 people had trekked here. Ashok Subedi, information officer of Annapurna Conservation Area, said that it dropped to 16,105 last year. The Annapurna Conservation Area ( Annapurna base camp trek ) is considered to be one of the most famous for trekking in the world. However, tourist activities came to a standstill after the Corona infection.
In 2020, 18,300 people came for trekking in this area. With the end of the second wave of Corona, tourist arrivals in Pokhara were increased. President of Hotel Association Nepal Pokhara Laxman Subedi said that 80 percent of the hotels in Pokhara are full on the two days of the English New Year. Tourist crowds had increased in the tourist areas including Pokhara Bazaar, Begnas, and Dhampus in the new year.
According to Subedi, tourist arrivals have stopped again after new varient.”After the shutdown, 5 to 30 per cent of the old businessmen were displaced from the tourism industry,” he said. “There were 15,000 more workers in the hotel sector.”Now that is not even five thousand. ‘Arrivals of Indian and Bangladeshi tourists also increased after the second wave of Corona.The bustle of domestic tourists was even greater.
Chairman of the Pokhara Tourism Council Gopi Bahadur Bhattarai says that there is a problem in sustaining the business after the spread of Omicron virus.
