Kathmandu, September 3:

Propelled by an impressive growth in the arrivals of Indian tourists, the number of tourists arriving in Nepal by air recorded a growth of over 16 per cent in the month of August, compared to the same month last year. According to figures released by the ministry of culture, tourism and civil aviation and compiled by Nepal Tourism Board, a total of 25,974 tourists arrived in Nepal during the month, against last year’s figure of 22,311. Out of this growth, Indian tourists arrivals registered a whopping 80 per cent growth. Arrivals from South Asian countries marked a growth of 82 per cent in total with Bangladeshi visitors showing a rapid increase of 186 per cent to 819 visitors. Among the Asian segment, Chinese visitors grew by 78 per cent and Taiwanese by 55 per cent. However, some declines were observed from primary Asian markets like Japan being down by 21 per cent. The non-Indian market declined by 6.6 per cent with minor declines coming from major markets like Germany and France, while UK continued to grow by one per cent. The Spanish and Italian arrivals went down by 36 per cent and 30 per cent respectively. On the other hand, arrivals from US came down by four per cent during the month.

Anticipating a growth in Indian arrivals, NTB conducted a survey among the incoming Indian visitors at the airport. As per the survey, increased arrivals from India has been influenced by various factors. The survey indicates that the rising confidence of Indian visitors towards Nepal, Nepal’s idealness for Indian families for short holidays, better accessibility, and competitive packages have significantly added to the growth. Quoting the survey findings, NTB adds that 41 per cent of the visitors coming with family members responded to the rising confidence towards the destination. More than 80 per cent of the respondents said that they had not a single concern in their mind about Nepal prior to their visit. And for 40 per cent of the respondents, the visit was for purely entertainment purposes. “The popularity of packages (50 per cent came in package tour) and repeat visitors ratio proves the fact that the market has possessed back the confidence and is responsive to competitive packages,” Tek Bahadur Dangi, chief executive officer of NTB commented on the increased figures. “And since there were number of longer weekends in August in India, that too prompted for vacation trips coupled by our accessibility of better price offers with packages. Now the business segment including MICE is also returning back,” he added.