Chitwan Park sees less tourists, but revenue doubles

Chitwan: The revenue of Chitwan National Park more than doubled in the first half of the current fiscal year, despite drop in number of tourists at the exotic national park located in central Nepal.

The revenue collection of the park went up because of hike in the entrance fee which came into effect in the beginning of this fiscal year.

The statistics show that a total of 82,061 tourists visited the national park in the first half of 2012/13, down 15 percent than in the same period last fiscal year.

With the entry of these tourists, the park collected Rs 96.72 million in revenue in the six-month period till mid-January. This compares with revenue of Rs 40.67 million generated in the same period last fiscal year.

According to national park officials, the revenue collection went up after entrance fee at the park was raised by up to three fold earlier this fiscal year.

Till last fiscal year, the entrance fee for each tourist, other than South Asian, was fixed at Rs 500. This was raised to Rs 1,500 earlier this fiscal year.

Likewise, South Asian tourists who were paying an entrance fee of Rs 200 until last fiscal year are now paying Rs 750.

Similarly, tariff rates on elephant safari and Jeep safari have also been raised since the beginning of this fiscal year.

Tourism entrepreneurs said these hikes discouraged many tourists from visiting the national park. But they also said the national park saw less tourists this fiscal year because of closure of the resort inside the park.

Chitwan is the top tourist destination of the country after Kathmandu and Pokhara. The endangered animals like one-horned rhino, tiger and local culture of ethnic Tharu community are major tourist attractions in Chitwan.

source:republica, 20 Jan 2013