Tourist arrivals up by 6.9pc in November

Number of visitors to Nepal by air increased by 6.9 percent in November as compared to the same period last year.

Arrivals from India went up by 1.5 percent while the arrivals from rest of the world contributed the remaining growth, a statement issued by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said quoting Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport.

Out of 29,407 visitors entering Nepal last month, 23 percent were Indians, 11 percent Japanese, 8 percent British, 6.8 percent Americans and 5.9 percent Germans.

The Asian segment recorded an encouraging growth during November. Including India, the major contributors of growth from Asian markets were China (42.2 percent), Japan (42.4 percent), South Korea (46.2 percent) as well as other Asian markets. Few markets to observe decline from Asia were Bangladesh (-24 percent), Sri Lanka (-18 percent) and Malaysia (-62.8 percent).

The overall European market registered a marginal decline of 3 percent but there were more arrivals from the Netherlands (14.3 percent) and Spain (65.3 percent). Arrivals from the Scandinavian region also remained positive while some decline was observed from France (-5.2 percent), Germany (-1.6 percent) and UK (-16.3 percent), the statement said.

The Australian arrivals too remained positive (36.7 percent) during the month, followed by 15 percent gain in arrivals from North America.

“Tourism is gaining momentum in Nepal as witnessed not only from the increased arrival figures but also with the establishment of peace and stability in the destination,” a press statement issued by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said.

The signing of the landmark peace accord and good prospects of peace, significant improvement could be expected in bookings for the next month as well as the upcoming season, NTB said. nepalnews.com mk Dec 04 06

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