KATHMANDU: With growing tourism activities and the peak tourist season in the month of October this year, there was a rise of 10.8 per cent in tourist arrivals compared to the corresponding period last year. According to the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) immigration office figures, visitor arrivals this October increased by 10.8 per cent to 56,009.

Also this October, there was a robust growth of 20.1 per cent and 116.4 per cent in visitor arrivals from India and China, respectively.

Talking about the increase in tourist arrivals from India and China, Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) president Ram Kaji Koney said, “Due to the increase in seat capacity after the liberal air policy between Nepal and India there has been an increase in tourist arrival

from India. Earlier, there

used to be 6,000 air seats but now seats have increased to 30,000 per week.”

According to Koney, as there are three air services from China now — Air China, China Southern and China Eastern — the number of tourist arrivals from China has grown by leaps and bounds.

Arrivals from Asia (other than South Asia) have also recorded positive growth. Visitor arrivals from Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand registered positive growth by 10.7 per cent, 55.8 per cent, 127.8 per cent, 4.3 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively. In aggregate, the Asian segment registered a positive growth of 41.2 per cent, according to the immigration office data.

In the SAARC region, arrivals from Pakistan and Sri Lanka registered positive growth by 177.4 per cent and 106.3 per cent, respectively. The only market to decline this month was Bangladesh by 49.5 per cent. In aggregate, the South Asian segment registered positive growth by 6.8 per cent.

An overall positive growth of 9.9 per cent was observed from the European markets with arrivals from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands up by 4.3 per cent, 6.6 per cent, 5.8 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 13.6 per cent, respectively. However,

arrivals from Switzerland, Spain, and Belgium registered a negative growth of 3.1 per cent, 9.5 per cent, and 15.5 per cent, respectively.

Tourist arrivals from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and USA also registered robust growth of 20.6 per cent, 21.3 per cent, 21.3 per cent and 14.3 per cent respectively.

This is the fifth consecutive month that Nepal has witnessed positive growth in international tourist arrivals. The growth from India and China has been a major contributing factor in the

overall increase in visitor arrivals. Tourism entrepreneurs opined that this growth endorses the notion that regional tourism can play a pivotal role in increasing overall visitor arrivals in Nepal.

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has strategically segmented India and China as prime markets and accordingly has accorded higher priority in carrying out promotional activities in these markets. The growth from China and The Netherlands can be safely linked to the addition of two new airlines in 2009.

A total of 49,465 foreign tourists departed from TIA in October. The number of Nepalese arrivals stood at 49,523 while departures stood at 49,827 that month.