Visitor arrivals up by 6 pc

The number of foreigners visiting Nepal in the month of February has increased by 6 percent compared the same period last year.

According to the figures released by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), 45,123 foreigners visited Nepal via the aerial route in February.

There was a growth of 135 percent in the Chinese sector while visitor arrivals from Malaysia and Singapore registered a robust growth of 288.1 percent and 111.9 percent respectively.

However, arrivals from Japan, South Korea and Thailand registered a negative growth of 20.1 percent, 29.4 percent, and 0.3 percent respectively.

The arrivals from South Asian region have recorded negative growth of 15.2 percent with Pakistan (44.3 percent) and Sri Lanka (35.3 percent) registering positive growth.

Visitor arrivals from India, which is the largest source market for Nepal witnessed decline by 18.2 percent and arrivals from Bangladesh declined by 5.3 percent.

European markets registered negative growth of 5.5 percent with major destinations showing mixed reaction in terms of visitor arrivals.

Tourist arrivals from the US, Canada and New Zealand increased by 11.2 percent, 42.2 percent and 44.8 percent respectively. However arrivals from Australia have decreased by 5.5 percent.

A total of 48,783 foreign tourists departed from TIA in February. The number of Nepalis arrivals stood at 58,379 while 70,635 departed from TIA last month. nepalnews.com