KATHMANDU, APRIL 4
Nepal's foreign tourist arrivals rebounded strongly by 180 per cent year-on-year last month, according to the latest data unveiled by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) today.
A total of 42,006 tourists visited Nepal in March this year compared to just 14,977 foreigners entering the country in the corresponding period of last year. It was also an improvement from nearly 20,000 visitors who chose to travel to Nepal in February. As per NTB, a total of 79,747 tourists have visited Nepal in the first three months of this year.
The highest numbers of foreign visitors in the review month were from SAARC countries - 17,661.
India was the top source country for tourists with 15,013 Indian nationals visiting Nepal. It was also an improvement of 96 per cent compared to 7,658 Indian visitors in March of 2021.
The United States was the second, with 4,896 Americans visiting Nepal, a surge of 17.5 per cent from 1,703 in the same month last year.
The United Kingdom secured the third place with 4,029 British tourists, while Bangladesh came in the fourth position, with 2,152 Bangladeshis making Nepal their travel destination.
Due to strict policies put in place by the northern neighbour in a bid to control the possible spread of the COV- ID-19, only 431 Chinese visited Nepal in March.
The arrivals from China actually plunged 64.3 per cent year-on-year, as per the NTB data.
In terms of the geographic region, the arrivals from Oceania soared by a whopping 1357.3 per cent.
This was primarily on the back of Australia easing its strict COVID travel restrictions.
This was followed by the Europe with arrivals from the region surging by 530 per cent and the Americas increasing by 208.4 per cent.
Private sector tourism stakeholders stated that the decision of the government to remove the mandatory provision of RT-PCR report for fully-vaccinated international tourists last month had salvaged the spring season.
According to the outgoing president of Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal Nava Raj Dahal, the new travel advisory has helped in attracting a large number of tourists in March. "If the momentum is maintained, Nepal will witness a good number of tourists footfall in the upcoming autumn season, which will help in the recovery of the COVID-battered tourism sector," Dahal added.
Earlier, all travellers to Nepal - including those fully-vaccinated - had to present a negative PCR report obtained within 72 hours of departure from the first port of embarkation and a printed copy of International Traveller Online Arrival Form obtained after registering online in the COV- ID-19 Crisis Management Centre website.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 5, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
