Tourist arrival via air declines slightly

The latest figures released by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport has revealed that the total visitor arrivals till August 2008 have reached to 224,679.

The tourist arrival by air in the month of August has decreased by 2 percent compared to the same month last year. However, figures until August this year represent an increase of 2 percent (224,679) in comparison to the same period last year.

According to Nepal Tourism Board, the tourism industry has shown some signs of revival in the form of softening in decline as compared to 19 percent decrease in July 2008.

India, the largest tourist generating market for Nepal, bounced back with a remarkable growth of 13 percent. The entire South Asian region has gained overall positive growth of 16 percent with Bangladesh (48 percent), Pakistan (45 percent) and Sri Lanka(31 percent).

Similarly, other Asian countries Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia have maintained the upward trend with 77 percent, 59 percent and 16 percent of growth respectively in each market.

Arrivals from the United Kingdom, one of the major source markets for Nepal, configured a notable growth of 35 percent. Australia and Norway maintained the increasing trend in the arrival figures.

However, other markets such as Japan, China, and South Korea witnessed decrease by 9 percent, 35 percent and 13 percent, respectively. European arrivals suffered a significant decline: Italy 44 percent, Germany 37 percent and Spain 28 percent. nepalnews.com ia Sep 02 08