Bhairahawa, January 4:

The number of tourists entering Nepal via Belhiya transit point to visit Lumbini has been going up in the last couple of years. The immigration office at Belhiya said that in comparison to 2004, the number of tourists entering Nepal via Belhiya increased by 3,912 in 2005.

The office informed that a total of 47,813 tourists had entered Nepal in 2004 while the number increased to 51,725 in 2005. The number of tourists visiting Nepal has been increasing since 2002 with the positive publicity in international community about the peace and security situation in the country, the office added.

According to statistics of the office, 46,174 tourists entered Nepal via Belhiya transit point in 2000, 35,936 tourists in 2001, 26,438 tourists in 2002 and 39,869 tourists in 2004. Destination for most tourists entering Nepal via Belhiya transit is Lumbini, the Belhiya immigration office added. In 2005, 17,739 tourists from Sri Lanka alone had visited Nepal via the point. The number was 8,500 tourists from Thailand, 3,914 from South Korea, 2,643 from Myanmar and 2,400 from Japan who had entered Nepal in 2005 through the Belhiya point.

Assistant at the immigration office, Kul Nath Pokharel said that the number of tourists visiting Lumbini increased significantly after the government announced the provisions of free visa for three days for tourists visiting Nepal on July 17, 2003. He added that the provision was made to promote tourism in the country.

The office added that the number of tourists will increase if there could be more positive publicity about Nepal in the international community and the new tourist destinations could be floated. The number of tourists visiting Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, increased by 5 per cent in 2005. A total of 39,784 tourists visited Lumbini in 2005, while the number was 37,892 in 2004 and 28,053 in 2003.

According to the information and public relation department of Lumbini Development Trust, the largest number of tourists came from Sri Lanka in 2005.

15,519 tourists from Sri Lanka, 7,828 tourists from Thailand, 3,053 tourists from South Korea, 2,222 tourists from Japan and 206 tourists from Myanmar had visited Lumbini in 2005, information and public relations officer Gyanin Rai informed.

Tourists from a total of 77 different countries had visited Lumbini in 2005.

Various reasons including renovation of Maya Devi temple and Lumbini being declared as international peace city have led to the increased number of tourists arriving from even new countries like Somalia, Tajikistan, Moldova and Yugoslavia, Rai added.