With the country moving in the direction of peace and stability, the arrival of tourists via air to Nepal increased by 7.2% in July as compared to the same month last year, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said, quoting the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.

According to the data of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, a total of 20,904 visitors entered Nepal during the month, as compared to 18,840 of the same period last year.

Arrival of India tourists rose by 13.1% in the month of July as compared to last year. A total of 10,019 visitors arrived in the month of July as compared to 8,859 of the same month last year.

4,713 European tourists visited Nepal in July as compared to 4,608 of the last year, posting an increase of 2.3%.

Overall arrival of tourists from third countries also increased by 2% in this July. In particular, tourists from Austria and Sweden increased significantly by 135.5% and 156.3% respectively.

Similarly, 47.4% more Canadian tourists arrived in Nepal last month as compared to July last year.

The arrival of tourists from Taiwan, Bangladesh and Thailand, minor tourist markets, declined by 40.1%, 33.0% and 31.1% respectively.

Likewise, number of tourists from Denmark, United Kingdom and New Zealand decreased by 11%, 11.3% and 4.7 percent respectively.

Indian visitors continued to be the single largest contributor capturing 47.9% of the total arrival of tourists.

The total arrival of tourists from January to July rose by 8.6% as compared to same period of last year. A total of 142,499 tourists arrived via air from January to July this year up from 131,210 of the last year.

A press release issued by the Nepal Tourism Board said, “The July trend indicates the returning consumer confidence particularly from Nepal’s primary markets. The growing peace and stability in the destination has been instrumental for this growth.”

“The promotional campaigns launched by Nepal Tourism Board in India based on the new tourism brand, is expected to be more effective in this atmosphere,” the statement further adds.