Kathmandu, January 2:

The total number of tourists visiting Nepal in 2007 has posted an all-time high as it crossed a half million mark.

According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 5,13,350 tourists visited Nepal over the year, including 3,60,350 visitors from air route only. This data, however, doesn’t include arrivals via land route in December.

As of November, the total of tourists coming Nepal via land route stands at 1,53,000.

The figures show that arrivals via air only in 2007 have recorded 27.1 per cent growth over 2006 and all time high since 2000.

A total of 2,83,516 tourists came to Nepal in 2006, while the number of visitors arriving Nepal by air was 3,76,914 in 2000.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board, one of the main reasons for inspiring growth in 2007 in tourist arrivals is the peace process and political stability in the county.

“Another reason is the good air connectivity with many destinations due to the operation of nine new international airlines to Nepal in 2007,” it states.

In 2007 alone, nine international airlines — China Southern Airlines, Silk Air, Korean Air, Air Arabia, Ethihad Airways, Dragon Air, Hong Kong Express, and Orient Thai-commenced flights to Nepal.

The data on tourist arrivals by air for 2007 shows that the numbers of visitors from Europe and America bounced back with vengeance and registered a whopping growth of by 38.6 per cent and 46.8 per cent, respectively. A total of 1,10,063 European and 30,294 American tourists vi-sited Nepal during the year.

Other Asian markets also posted an encouraging growth, as it registered a whopping 49.4 per cent rise to 65,799 tourists during the year against 44,038 in 2006.

Although the share of Indian tourists contributed over 26 per cent in the total arrivals, it did not perform well, with tourist arrivals growing by just 1.1 per cent to 96,271.

However, 2008 seems to be very promising as more new airlines are coming and existing airlines are also extending their flight frequency to Nepal.

December also saw a growth of 13 per cent in total arrivals by air route. The total visitor arrivals reached 29,895 in December.