KATHMANDU — The month of February 2019 has witnessed a continuing growth trend. According to the Immigration Department (and its offices) 97,694, international visitors came by air and 26,727 came overland. In aggregate, a total of 124,421 visitors visited Nepal in February 2019, a cumulative increase of 39 % over the same period in 2018. The cumulative figures of January-February in comparison to the arrivals in the same period last year have increased by one third i.e. by 33%.
Tourist arrivals from India in February 2019 increased by 92.5% in comparison to the figures of February 2018 and reached 14,571. A total of 14,831 Sri Lankan visitors came to Nepal in February 2019. The overall arrivals from SAARC countries registered a sturdy growth of 85 % over the same month last year with 31,831 total tourist arrivals.
Likewise, 16,205 Chinese tourists visited Nepal in February 2019, which is 5.3% more than the arrivals in February 2018. Similarly, the visitors from Thailand, Japan and South Korea have also increased significantly by 109 %, 20 % and 47.2% respectively in comparison to the figures of February 2018.
The European arrivals have also surged with healthy growths from the key markets. Arrivals from the United Kingdom, Germany, and France were 5,268, 3,340 and 1,978 respectively with 8.7, 27.9 and 7.6% growth rates. The total European arrivals in February 2019 reached 17,789 with regional aggregated growth of 11.6%
A total number of US visitors to Nepal in February 2019 was 7,133, an increase of 5% over the figures of February last year. Likewise, the number of Australians visitors to Nepal in February 2019 was 2,978 which is 17.4% more than in February 2018.
Interestingly, more visitors came from China and Sri Lanka in February 2019 than from India, which often ranks number one source market for Nepal. Although the arrivals from India include only those who traveled by air to Nepal.
“It is the result of massive promotional efforts of NTB and private sector travel trade,” said Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO of Nepal Tourism Board. He further remarked that “with this phenomenal growth of almost 40%, the target of Visit Nepal Year 2020 looks realistic and NTB will continue its promotional crusade in the international market “.
