The Department of Tourism (DoT) has collected over Rs 65 million from issuing 785 climbing permits this autumn climbing season so far.
The majority of the royalty summing up to Rs. 46.29 million was collected from issuing permits to climb Mt. Manaslu.
Across Nepal, a total of 95 teams comprising 597 male and 185 female climbers from 67 countries, including Nepal, were issued the permit to scale 31 peaks.
Yuvraj Khatiwada, director of mountaineering at the DoT, said, “The mountaineering sector seems to have improved by 70 percent compared to last year. After two years of restricted travel due to COVID-19, many mountaineers are choosing Nepal for climbing purposes. The closed border of China and the promotion of expedition teams at an international level can be attributed to the increasing number of climbers visiting the country.”
He, however, mentioned that the current number of mountaineers coming to the country has still not reached its pre-pandemic levels.
According to the data from the DoT, the highest numbers of climbers this climbing season are from the United States. As many as 69 climbers have arrived from the US so far.
Similarly, 62 climbers are from France, 55 from the United Kingdom, 53 from Germany, 49 from Spain, and 34 from India, among other countries.
Nepal has attracted climbers from 66 different countries to scale its peaks and mountains for this climbing season. Meanwhile, a total of 11 Nepali climbers have also acquired permits for mountaineering purposes this year.
The main climbing season in Nepal is October and November so the number is assumed to increase.
