Visitor arrivals to Nepal increased by 12.2% yoy in February to 37,584 according to figures released by the Immigration Office at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). So far in 2011, international tourist arrivals are up 18.4% to 70,498 representing an additional 19,935 compared to the same period last year.
Nepal has witnessed sustained growth in international visitor arrivals since June 2009 and arrivals from all regions showed an upward trend last month.
Arrivals from India, which is a major tourism generating country for Nepal, increased by 39.9% while the number of tourists coming from Bangladesh shot up by 14.4%. But arrivals from Sri Lanka and Pakistan declined by 27% and 7.1%, respectively. On aggregate, the South Asian segment registered a positive growth of 31.8% in February.
Arrivals from Asia (other than South Asia) also went up 2% on aggregate with mixed performance from the individual countries. Thailand and South Korea look like key growth markets for Nepalese Tourism with arrivals up 39.6% and 29.9% respectively. However, arrivals from Malaysia and Singapore slumped by 36% and 7%.
The destination is still garnering increased interest from the European market as well as arrivals from the region grew 6.3% yoy. In February, Russia proved to be the most expansive market with international arrivals up 83.8%, underscoring the growing importance of Russia’s outbound market in the international travel industry.
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