Tourists visiting Khumbu even in ‘off-season’

Solukhumbu / Aug. 20: There has been an increase in the number of foreign tourists coming to the Everest region this ‘off-season.’

According to the office of the Sagarmatha National Park, more foreigners have come to the Khumbu area this year in the post-tourism month of August than previous years. Up until last year, the park would hardly see a couple of tourists a day this month. This year though, it has seeing around 14.

Dwarika Achhami, chief of the Lukla office of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), informed that the increase in the number of visitors had boosted air travel too. “Three flights are taking place every day,” Achhami said. “More than two dozen helicopter flights also take place daily.”

Khumbu only has two ‘tourist seasons.’ One is the spring (April, May and June) and the other is the autumn (September, October and November). While the area is packed with tourists these six months of the year, it barely sees anyone in the other six months.

But this year, the numbers have not waned, even in the ‘off season.’