Tourist arrivals up by 33.8pc

Kathmandu, October 8

Due to the positive vibes in the domestic tourism industry, the inflow of foreign tourists in Nepal has increased by 33.8 per cent to 91,820 international visitors in September. With this, the arrival figures from January to September has reached 772,798, which is an accumulative increase of 20 per cent over the same period in 2017, according to a press statement issued by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

Tourist arrivals from India grew by 96 per cent in September in comparison to the same period in 2017. Likewise, arrivals from Sri Lanka surged by 57.1 per cent. Similarly, the overall arrivals from SAARC countries registered a sturdy growth of 52.8 per cent over the same month last year.

Moreover, visitor arrivals from China has continued to soar with an exponential growth of 55 per cent in comparison to the arrivals in the same month last year. Arrivals from Asia (other than SAARC) have also recorded robust growth of 42.6 per cent. Likewise the number of visitors from Japan and South Korea has also increased by 8.9 per cent and 9.2 per cent, respectively.

European markets generated 66.3 per cent more visitors in September this year. Arrivals from Germany and France increased by 30.9 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.

However, Australia and New Zealand witnessed a decline of nine per cent and four per cent, respectively, in September as compared to the arrival figures of 2017. Similarly, the number of visitors from the United States and Canada has also decreased by nine per cent and two per cent, respectively, in September.

Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO of NTB, highlighted that the healthy result can be attributed to the dedication and commitment

towards betterment of overall tourism business and the industry in general.

Top five countries

Country         Tourist arrivals

India.........................16,345

China........................12,947

Sri Lanka..................8,807

USA...........................6,519

Germany.................3,775

Source: NTB