Nepal Sees Significant Tourist Influx in May 2026

Kathmandu. In the last one month, more than 1 lakh 2 thousand tourists have entered Nepal. According to the data of the Nepal Tourism Board, a significant increase has been observed in Nepal's tourism sector in the month of May 2026.

A total of 1 lakh 2 thousand 6 hundred and 26 international tourists visited Nepal in the month of May. This number is 19 percent higher than in May of last year, 2025. This tourist arrival rate has increased by 31 percent compared to the same month of 2019, a normal year before COVID-19. In May 2019, 78 thousand 3 hundred and 29 tourists had come, and the current data shows a 'recovery' rate of 131 percent.

Many from India

Looking at the source countries for tourist arrivals, neighboring country India has the largest share. In May, 40 thousand 7 hundred and 82 tourists entered Nepal from India alone, which is about 40 percent of the total arrivals. After India, China is in the second position, with 11 thousand 5 hundred and 14 tourists coming from there, while the United States of America stands in third place with 9 thousand 1 tourists. Similarly, 5 thousand 2 hundred and 98 tourists came from the South Asian country Bangladesh. Other major source markets include the United Kingdom (3,375), Australia (2,870), Malaysia (2,857), Japan (1,756), Russia (1,550), and Germany (1,548).

Based on regional distribution, the South Asian (SAARC) region has proven to be the backbone of Nepal's tourism. 47.2 percent of the total tourists, i.e., 48 thousand 4 hundred and 61 people, came from SAARC countries. After the SAARC region, other Asian countries have the largest share, with 19.9 percent (20,462 people) tourists coming from there.

13.1 percent (13,440 people) of tourists visited Nepal from European countries and 10.3 percent (10,618 people) from the American continent. Besides this, 3.1 percent from Oceania, 1.5 percent from the Middle East, and 0.3 percent from Africa have arrived. Compared to last year, there has been a significant increase of 33.5 percent in arrivals from the SAARC region.