KATHMANDU, MAY 2
Nearly 100,000 foreign tourists entered Nepal in the previous month, indicating a strong recovery in the country's tourism sector compared to the past years.
According to the data released by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) today, a total of 98,773 international tourists visited Nepal in April, which is a substantial increase from the 61,589 tourists who arrived in the corresponding month of 2022, 22,732 in April of 2021, and just 14 in April of 2020.
However, the arrivals are yet to recover to the pre-pandemic level, when 109,399 tourists had visited Nepal in April of 2019.
Maniraj Lamichhane, director of NTB, stated that the recent surge in tourist arrivals is a positive sign for Nepal's tourism industry and that the arrivals saw 90.28 per cent recovery last month compared to the corresponding month before the pandemic.
In April, India emerged as the top source country for tourists visiting Nepal, with a total of 31,437 Indian nationals visiting the country. This number constituted 31.83 per cent of the total international tourists who arrived in Nepal during the review period.
In comparison, the number of Indian tourists who visited Nepal during the same month in the previous year was 22,476.
The United States was the second-largest source country of tourists visiting Nepal in April, with a total of 8,413 American nationals arriving in the country. It was an increase from 7,344 American tourists who visited Nepal during the same month in the previous year.
The United Kingdom secured third position with 5,409 British tourists visiting Nepal in April.
Following the relaxation of COVID restrictions, China - Nepal's northern neighbour - came in the fourth position with 4,770. This figure is a massive surge by 1255.1 per cent from only 352 Chinese tourists who made Nepal their destination during the same month of 2022.
In terms of the geographic region, 35.88 per cent were from the SAARC countries, as per the NTB.
Likewise, 24.70 per cent of the total visitors were from European countries in April, while 10.21 per cent were from the Americas. The arrivals from Asia, Oceania and others stood at 14.84 per cent, 4.27 per cent, and 10.10 per cent, respectively.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 3, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
