Nepal Records 1.2 Million Foreign Tourist Arrivals in FY 2082/83

Kathmandu. In the fiscal year 2082/83, 1,209,357 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal. According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the largest number of 311,531 tourists came from India, followed by 111,325 from the United States and 109,892 from China.

According to the international tourist arrival data released by the Nepal Tourism Board, India has become Nepal's largest source market. India's share in the total arrivals is approximately 25.76 percent. After India, the USA (111,325) is the second and China (109,892) is the third major source market.

After that, 58,163 tourists came from Bangladesh, 56,649 from the United Kingdom, 53,195 from Australia, 43,211 from Sri Lanka, 36,289 from Bhutan, 30,737 from Myanmar, 29,296 from Germany, 27,201 from Thailand, 25,762 from Japan, and 25,640 tourists came to Nepal from Malaysia.

In the last fiscal year 082/083, the highest number of 124,829 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal in the month of Kartik. The data shows that followed by 119,390 tourists in Chaitra, 114,152 in Falgun, and 111,780 tourists in Asoj.

The Nepal Tourism Board has intensified promotional programs in the nearest source markets of India and China. In the fiscal year 082/083, more than 12 promotional programs were conducted in various cities of India including Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, and New Delhi. Similarly, more than 40 Nepal tourism promotional programs were conducted in the international market overall.

Similarly, in the last three months of the fiscal year 2082/83, various cross-border and tourism marts and fairs were organized from Jhapa in the east to Kanchanpur in the west to secure tourism infrastructure investment in Nepal's Terai region bordering India. Due to its impact, there has been a significant increase in the number of tourists entering Nepal through the border areas.

Hikmat Singh Air, Acting Executive Chief of the Nepal Tourism Board, stated that the expansion of air connectivity and collaboration with the private sector have led to positive growth in Nepal's tourism. He said, 'The tourist arrivals in the fiscal year 2082/83 clearly indicate that Nepal's tourism industry is moving from recovery to sustainable growth. Our efforts to establish Nepal as an attractive year-round destination by making targeted promotions more effective in new potential markets as well as in major source markets will continue.'

Acting Executive Chief Air pointed out the need to make sales missions more effective to expand targeted promotion and business-to-business (B2B) contact in the Chinese market, where the potential for tourist arrivals is immense.

'Regular sales missions need to be conducted internationally to strengthen our presence in new and high-potential source markets such as China, the USA, Australia, and Bangladesh. To make tourism promotion result-oriented, the Nepal Tourism Board is moving forward to immediately expand such programs in collaboration with the private sector through the budget of fiscal year 083/084,' said Air.

The Acting Executive Chief Air informed that Nepal Government has declared 2027 as the Visit Health Tourism Year and expressed the expectation that tourist arrivals will further increase in the current fiscal year.

The Nepal Tourism Board has stated that in the coming days, it will further strengthen Nepal's tourism promotion in new international markets along with traditional markets, attracting high-spending tourists, and increasing the length of stay.