Kathmandu, September 19

The arrival of foreign tourists in Nepal surged by 18.87 per cent in August this year as compared to the same month in 2017.

As per the statistics released today by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), 87,679 foreign tourists visited Nepal last month, against 73,778 foreigners who visited the country in August of last year.

With this, 680,996 foreign tourists have visited Nepal in between January and August this year, according to NTB. This arrival of foreign tourists is an increment by 18.2 per cent as compared to the foreigners’ arrival during the same period in 2017.

NTB’s data shows that tourist arrivals from India grew by 37.3 per cent to 19,295 this month in comparison to the figures of same month in 2017. Similarly, tourist arrival from Sri Lanka surged by 74.5 per cent last month to 16,878 as compared to last year’s August arrival.

Similarly, the foreign tourist arrivals from SAARC countries registered a sturdy growth of 48.3 per cent to 38,972 in August this year over the same month last year.

Visitors’ arrival from China continued to soar with an exponential growth of 63.9 per cent to 12,048 in August this year in comparison to the arrivals in the same month last year.

Likewise, the flow of European tourists increased by 21.3 per cent to 14,918 in August this year as compared to the same month last year.

Arrivals from the UK, Germany and France increased by 21.7 per cent to 3,619, 31.9 per cent to 1,572 and 25.7 per cent to 1,349, respectively in August this year compared to arrivals from these nations in August of 2017.

“While the neighbouring countries remain the most dependable and strongest source markets for Nepal, NTB’s efforts to better position Nepal’s tourism endowments has enhanced the country’s image and resulted in increased interest from the major source markets,” said Deepak Raj Joshi, chief executive officer of NTB, adding that the cooperation and partnership between public and private sector has also played a pivotal role in boosting the country’s tourism industry.

Comparative figures

Regions

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Americas

Others

17-Aug

40,464

12,296

1,169

4,694

15,155

18-Aug

58,365

14,918

1,600

5,403

7,393

Source: NTB