Kathmandu, March 1

A total of 128,329 foreign tourists entered Nepal in the first two months of 2023, indicating a strong recovery in the country's tourism sector compared to the past year.

While 55,074 tourists visited the country in January, as many as 73,255 entered Nepal in February this year. The arrival recorded in the first two months of 2023 is more than 254 per cent higher than the arrivals of 36,202 tourists who visited the country in the same period of 2022.

However, the arrivals are yet to recover to the pre-pandemic level, when 177,855 tourists visited the country in the first two months of 2020 before the government of Nepal enforced a nationwide lockdown from March to control the spread of COVID-19.

As per the latest data unveiled by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) today, the country welcomed a total of 73,255 tourists by air in February, a rise of 270 per cent compared to the same month in 2022 when 19,765 tourists had entered Nepal.

A total of 18,401 Indian tourists entered Nepal last month. Similarly, the country received 1,907 tourists from Bangladesh, 2,175 from Sri Lanka, 314 from Pakistan, and 920 from Bhutan. Of the total international tourists who entered Nepal last month, 23,717 were from the SAARC countries, as per the NTB.

Similarly, 13,037 of the total visitors in February were from European countries. Of them, 4,345 were from the United Kingdom, 2,108 from Germany, 1,463 from France, and 540 from Spain.

The country also received tourists from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, Russia, Ukraine, and Sweden. From Oceania, 2,969 were Australian nationals, while 231 were from New Zealand.

Likewise, 1,369 Canadian tourists and 7,887 American tourists came to Nepal.

From other countries in Asia, 2,266 tourists were from China, 1,066 from Japan, 1,819 from Malaysia, 594 from Singapore, 3,246 from South Korea, 4,802 from Thailand, and 2,232 from Myanmar.

Meanwhile, a total of 7,396 tourists visited Nepal in February from countries categorised as 'others'. Also, a total of 624 tourists came to Nepal from the Middle East, of whom 313 were from Israel and 311 were from Turkey.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 2, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.