PHUNGLING, Oct 5: The Kanchenjunga region has witnessed a rise in the arrival of domestic and foreign tourists, thereby making base camp bustling.
On Friday alone, 65 foreign tourists left for the base camp. According to Tasi Tenzing, a tourism assistant at the Office of the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Management Council in Ghunsa, the visitors are from Spain, France, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Romania, the US, Poland, and India.
The increase in arrival of tourists has elated the tourism professionals and businesspersons in the region. A hotelier at Kanchenjunga Entry Point at Phaktanglung Rural Municipality-6, Pema Sherpa, stated that as more tourists visited the region recently, the hotels closed earlier have started reopening.
New route to reach Annapurna Base Camp
Domestic tourists have also started coming to Kanchenjunga region from cities like Biratnagar, Dharan, Damak. Tourism business is the main income of the locals of Kyapla, Phale, Ghunsa, Khabajen, and Lonak of Phaktanglung Rural Municipality-6.
According to the statistics of the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Management Council, 52 hotels are operating on the way to the base camp. Of them, Singinamjong Hotel, a luxury hotel, built with an investment of more than Rs 70 million is also in operation at Gapla of Phaktanglung Rural Municipality-6. Local products are consumed in the hotels which contribute to the local economy.
Tourist assistant dies
Meanwhile, an assistant of a tourists' team on the way to the Kanchenjunga base camp died after he was hit by a boulder. According to the District Police Office, Taplejung, Tika Bahadur Rai of Silichong Rural Municipality-5 of Sankhuwasabha died due to a landslide at Ilifok near Japantar of Phaktanglung Rural Municipality-6.
Police have not been able to retrieve the dead body owing to continuous landslides. However, other members of the team are safe, police confirmed.
