KATHMANDU, MAY 2
Nepal's international tourist arrivals soared by 159.9 per cent year-on-year to 58,348 last month, according to the data unveiled by the Nepal Tourism Board today.
The country had welcomed 22,450 tourists in the same month last year.
Similarly, 52,663 tourists left the country in the review month.
A total of 22,477 Indian tourists entered Nepal last month, which was an increase of 70.3 per cent compared to thenumber of Indian nationals who had visited Nepal in April of 2021.
Similarly, the country received 1,537 tourists from Bangladesh, 204 from Pakistan, 244 from Sri Lanka and 86 from Bhutan.
Of the total international tourists who entered Nepal last month, 42.7 per cent were from the SAARC countries, as per the NTB.
Similarly, 27.94 per cent of the total visitors in April were from European countries. Of them, 5,252 were from the United Kingdom, 2,097 from Germany, and 1,922 fromFrance. Similarly, tourists from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, and Sweden also arrived in Nepal over the review month.
Likewise, 953 Russian nationals entered Nepal last month.
From Oceania, 2,726 were Australian nationals while 98 were from New Zealand. Over the same time period, 1,028Canadian tourists and 7,982 American tourists came to Nepal.
Furthermore, a total of 505 Thai nationals entered Nepal in April, which was an increase of 1,047.7 per cent compared to last year.
From other countries in Asia, 281 tourists were from China, 320 from Japan, 420 from Malaysia, 148 from Singapore, 385 from South Korea, 23 from Chinese Taipei, and 48 from Myanmar.
Meanwhile, a total of 7,982 tourists visited Nepal in April from counties categorised as 'others'.
Following the spread of COVID-19, only 14 international tourists had visited Nepal in April of 2020, a harsh nosedive compared to the 109,399 tourists who had visited the country in April of 2019.
Therefore, even though encouraging, the tourist arrivals data of last month is still 46.66 per cent lower compared to the pre-pandemic level, suggesting a gradual recovery in the tourism sector.
A total of 136,120 foreigners have visited Nepal since the beginning of the year, against 55,447 visitors in the first four months of 2021.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 03, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
