KATHMANDU: Nepal's mountain tourism destinations recorded one of their busiest non-festival periods in recent memory over the past four days, with a four-day public holiday and Indian summer travel driving a surge that filled hotels across Mustang, Myagdi, Pokhara, and Dhorpatan — and left hundreds of visitors without accommodation in some locations.

More than 30,000 tourists entered Mustang via the Beni–Jomsom road over four days, with daily figures recorded at Ghasa checkpoint climbing steadily from 5,586 on Wednesday to 7,827 on Thursday and 9,086 on Friday. Mustang's hotel capacity stands at 10,000 guests per night; the overflow was redistributed to Myagdi, Baglung, Kushma, and Pokhara.

Pokhara hotels hit 90 percent occupancy for the period, according to Hotel Association Pokhara, who credited the government's recently introduced two-day weekend with sustaining domestic tourism momentum. Around 40 percent of Indian visitors to Pokhara continue to Muktinath, while a similar proportion of international tourists head into the Annapurna Conservation Area. ACAP noted that South Asian visitors — predominantly Indian — make up roughly 90 percent of Annapurna-area trekkers.

At Muktinath, daily visitor numbers surged to between 20,000 and 25,000 against a typical average of 5,000 to 7,000, overwhelming management at the hilltop temple complex. Nepal Police and Armed Police Force were deployed to assist crowd management. The Muktinath Development Committee has called for expansion of the temple precinct to handle growing visitor volumes.

Dhorpatan in Baglung saw some of the starkest capacity pressures. With a combined accommodation limit of 700 guests across 27 hotels and 12 homestays, the valley received over 1,000 tourists in a single day. Hundreds were turned away, with some groups travelling from as far as Gulmi returning the same day after failing to find rooms.

According to the the Hotel Association Dhorpatan Valley visitors urged to confirm availability before travelling. The recent improvement of the Burtibang–Dhorpatan road has made the destination significantly more accessible and is drawing growing numbers of visitors seeking cool highland temperatures.

The surge underlines both the depth of domestic appetite for mountain destinations during holiday windows and the infrastructure gaps — accommodation capacity, road conditions, and crowd management — that must be addressed if Nepal's internal tourism is to scale sustainably.

Altitude safety remains a concern

Thirteen tourists have died from altitude sickness in Mustang in the current fiscal year, including nine foreign nationals, all pilgrims visiting Muktinath. Health authorities and operators attribute the deaths partly to travel agencies delivering visitors to high-altitude sites without acclimatisation stops. Hotels across Baragung Mukti Kshetra carry portable oxygen and altitude medication, and a high-altitude treatment centre operates at the Muktinath temple complex. Operators and health workers are urging travel companies to build holding stops into itineraries to reduce risk.