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Pokhara paragliding companies fully booked for a week

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POKHARA: Even though June-August is regarded as off-season for tourism business, paragliding companies in Pokhara are having hard time arranging flight for foreign tourists.

According to paragliding operators, the number of Chinese tourists in Pokhara has increased significantly over the past couple of months. “As most of them want to enjoy paragliding, we are having hard times arranging flights for them. We are already booked for a week,” Rijan Rijal, manager of Avia Club, said.

According to the latest figures released by the Immigration Office at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the number of Chinese tourists increased by 10 percent to 3,843 in June compared to same month last year. Tourism entrepreneurs say around 90 percent of Chinese tourists visiting Pokhara wish to enjoy paragliding flight.

Not only Avia Club, almost all the paragliding companies in Pokhara are booked for a week. Until last year, paragliding companies used to send their pilots on leave as only a few tourists used to approach them for paragliding. However, this is not the case this year.

Sano Babu Sunuwar, manager of Flying Himalayan Paragliding, said most of the tourists want to enjoy paragliding as other adventure activities like trekking and rafting are generally not possible during monsoon. “The demand is so high that only those tourists, who have booked two weeks ago, can enjoy paragliding,” Sunuwar said.

According to paragliding operators, the paragliding business reached its peak a month ago. They say they will continue to see huge footfalls at least for two weeks as most of the companies are already booked for the period.

Paragliding operators say they were also facing shortage of flights as most of the foreign pilots go on holiday at this time of year. Likewise, a new rule that bars pilots from operating more than three flights a day has also made things difficult for them.

At present, around 100 tandem pilots, including 30 foreign pilots, are conducting paragliding in Pokhara. There are 18 paragliding companies in Pokhara.

source:SANTOSH POKHAREL ,republica,13 august
Photo Courtesy: Sano Babu Sunuwar