More tourists visiting Rara Lake

RARA, Nov 22:

The number of tourists visiting Rara National Park (RNP) has increase drastically since the beginning of this fiscal year (mid-July).

According to RNP officials, more than 600 Nepalis have visited the protected area in the first quarter of 2014/15. During the period, the national park, which is home to the famous Rara Lake -- the largest lake in the country, welcomed 66 foreign tourists, up from 20 recorded in the same period of last fiscal year, according to Shankar Kumar Shah, an employee of RNP.

Different events like Ultra Marathon, Lomanthang-Lumbini-Fewa-Rara Trekking Trail promotional campaign, and National Climate Change Conference were held in the periphery of Rara Lake this year. "These events have helped immensely in the promotion of Rara Lake and the national park," added Shah.

Though hotels in the vicinity of Rara Lake have the capacity to accommodate hundreds of guests at a time, most of visitors choose to stay in tented camps, saying that local hotels are expensive. “We have the capacity to accommodate 60 people at a time. But most of the visitors prefer to stay in tented camps saying that our services are expensive,” Gopal Bahadur Bom, manager of Danfe Hotel, said.

According to Bom, hotels in Rara are comparatively expensive as few people the place and it is difficult for them to meet their operating costs.

RNP officials say number of visitors to Rara Lake might increase if cheaper accommodation is arranged by promoting home-stay in villages near the lake. "The government has not taken any initiative to promote home-stay tourism," added Shah.

Source: Republica