Baglung, August 9
The number of tourists coming to enjoy Dhorpatan has been on the rise of late. More than 37,000 tourists have reached Dhorpatan in a year, with most of them including domestic tourists, according to the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve Office, Baglung. The number of tourists visiting Dhorpatan in the fiscal year 2082/83 reached 37,520, of which 37,270 were Nepali tourists.
A total of 23,692 tourists had reached Dhorpatan in the fiscal year 2081/82 and 15,573 in the fiscal year 2080/81. Ranger Sagar Subedi of the office shared that the number of tourists reaching Dhorpatan, the only hunting reserve in Nepal, has increased by 13,000 in a year. The number of tourists is increasing every year due to the construction of tourist infrastructure, publicity and development of well-managed hotels and homestays in Dhorpatan.
The increase in the number of tourists has also led to a rise in revenue collection. A total of Rs 4,768,405 was collected from tourist entry fees in the fiscal year 2082/83 and Rs 3,121,500 in the fiscal year 2081/82. According to Ranger Subedi, the reserve has been charging Rs 100 for domestic and Nepali tourists to enter Dhorpatan, Rs 1,500 for tourists from SAARC countries and Rs 3,000 for foreign tourists.
Similarly, the reserve has collected Rs 10 million from stones, gravel and sand in the fiscal year 2082/83, which is Rs 4.6 million more than the previous fiscal year. While foreign tourists used to come to Dhorpatan only to hunt, domestic tourists have been coming here to observe the Dhorpatan Valley, Nisheldhor and Dhorbarah Temples, Bukipatan and Jaljala. Dhorpatan Valley is 2,900 meters above sea level, while Bukipatan lies at an altitude of over 4,000 meters.
