Nepalis spent 1.89 trillion rupees on foreign travel last year

Kathmandu, August 19 - The annual report reveals a strong interest among Nepalis in both domestic and international travel. In the last financial year (2080/81), Nepalis spent 1 trillion 89 billion 43 crore rupees on foreign trips, marking a 31.1 percent increase from the previous year.

Despite this rise in travel expenditure, there has been some improvement in Nepal’s tourism sector. According to the Rastra Bank, the number of tourists visiting Nepal and tourism-related revenue both increased. Nepal earned 82 billion 33 million rupees in tourism income during the review period, a 32.1 percent increase from the previous year’s 79 billion 89 million rupees.

However, Nepal faced a net loss of 55.86 billion rupees when comparing tourism income with expenditure. This year’s expenses decreased by 21.20 percent from last year's 70.89 billion rupees.

A significant portion of travel expenditure is attributed to foreign education. The National Bank reports that 1 trillion 25 billion 13 crore rupees were spent on foreign education last year, accounting for 66.056 percent of total travel expenses. In comparison, the total expenditure on tourism last year was 1 trillion 44 billion 52 crore rupees, with foreign education spending at 1 trillion 42 crore rupees.