Kathmandu, March 11 The month of February witnessed a continuous growth trend in tourist arrivals. According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the number of Chinese tourists overtook Indian tourists last month. In February, 16,205 Chinese tourists visited Nepal, which was 5.3 per cent more than the arrivals in February 2018. A total of 14,831 Sri Lankan visitors also came to Nepal in February. Similarly, 14,571 Indian tourists came to Nepal in the review month, which was an increase of 51.95 per cent in comparison to the figures of February last year. As per NTB, 97,694 international visitors came by air and 26,727 came overland. In aggregate, a total of 124,421 visitors visited Nepal in February, a cumulative increase of 39 per cent over the same month last year. The cumulative figures of January-February in comparison to the arrivals in the same period last year have increased by 33 per cent.

Top 5 countries

Country

Arrivals

China

16,205

Sri Lanka

14,831

India

14,571

Thailand

14,322

USA

7,133

  Overall arrivals from SAARC countries registered a sturdy growth of 85 per cent over the same month last year with 31,831 total tourist arrivals. Similarly, visitors from Thailand, Japan and South Korea have also risen significantly by 109 per cent, 20 per cent and 47.2 per cent, respectively in comparison to figures of February last year. European arrivals have also surged with healthy growths from key markets. Arrivals from the United Kingdom, Germany and France were 5,268, 3,340 and 1,978, respectively, with 8.7, 27.9 and 7.6 per cent growth rates. Total European arrivals in February reached 17,789 with regional aggregated growth of 11.6 per cent. Total number of US visitors to Nepal was 7,133, an increase of five per cent over the figures of February last year. Likewise, number of Australians coming to Nepal in February was 2,978, which was 17.4 per cent more than in the same month last year. Interestingly, more visitors came from China and Sri Lanka in February than from India, which often ranks as the number one source market for Nepal. It has to be noted that arrivals from India include only those who travel by air to Nepal.