December 03, 2005
KATHMANDU: The number of visitors arriving Nepal by air in the month of November increased by over 14 percent this year compared to the same month last year, officials said.
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said, quoting the Immigration Office at the Tribhuvan International Airport, that arrivals from India and the third countries both increased by 30% and 9.9% respectively. A total of 27,511 visitors came to Nepal during the month.
”Indian market continued to show the increasing trend indicating the fact that confidence level from the market is accelerating day by day. Arrivals from SAARC countries grew altogether by 34.6% with the only decline coming from the Sri-Lankan market. Bangladesh was on a remarkable growth trend last month too showing an increase of 116.3%,” said a statement issued by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) on Friday.
The other Asian markets to rise were China (51%), Japan (21.5%) and South Korea (39.1%). Arrivals from South East Asian markets, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia however showed some decline, the statement said.
The European segment altogether grew by over 7 percent with growth from major markets like UK (21.3%) and France (7.4%). The Spanish (16.6%) and Italian (13.5%) continued their positive performance while Germany observed incremental loss (-1.6%) and a loss of 34.6% from Dutch market. Arrivals were down from Australian market (-20.7%) while American arrivals grew by 18.8%.
Commenting on the increased figure of last month, CEO of Nepal Tourism Board, Tek Bahadur Dangi, said, “The increasing trend in arrival is not only the sign of increasing confidence of the markets towards the destination, but also a challenge to the Nepali tourism to retain the growth for the coming days. With the added stability in the country, we need to work collectively and put our co-ordinated efforts to brighten the days of Nepali tourism further.”
Industry watchers say unilateral ceasefire announced by the CPN (Maoist) had had positive impact on the arrival of tourists over the last few months.