The number of tourists visiting Chitwan National Park has declined significantly in Fiscal Year 2024/25, with a drop of nearly 25 percent compared to the previous fiscal year, according to the park authority.

Information Officer at the park, Avinash Thapa Magar, told RSS that a total of 231,329 tourists visited the park in the review year, down from 306,837 in FY 2023/24. This marks a decrease of 75,508 visitors year-on-year. Among the total visitors last fiscal year, 117,206 were domestic tourists.

The state-run news agency added that the number of male visitors exceeded that of females. According to park records, 24,800 visitors came from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, while 89,323 were from non-SAARC nations.

According to RSS, the highest number of visitors was recorded in the month of Kartik (mid-October to mid-November), with 32,252 tourists entering the park. The lowest turnout was in the month of Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August), with only 7,309 visitors.

Information Officer Thapa Magar attributed the decline to poor road infrastructure and other logistical challenges, RSS further reported. However, he expressed optimism that the number of tourists would increase in the current fiscal year.

Dhruva Giri, president of the Restaurant and Bar Association (REBAN) Sauraha, echoed similar concerns, stating that the decline in visitors has severely impacted the tourism-dependent economy of Sauraha. He pointed to the temporary halt of night flights at the Tribhuvan International Airport and poor road conditions connecting major cities to Chitwan as key reasons for the downturn, RSS added.

According to the news agency, Giri emphasized that only through improvements in air connectivity and highway infrastructure could tourist numbers be revived.

Chitwan National Park attracts both domestic and international tourists for its rich biodiversity, offering opportunities to study and observe rare wildlife, birds, plants, and aquatic species.