Tourist arrivals by air decreased by 2.2 percent in the month of April due to frequent curfews and general strike called by the seven parties as part of the people’s movement for restoration of democracy.

According to the data of the Ministry of Culture, Civil Aviation and Tourism, 18,465 tourists came in April by air down from 18,879 in the same month last year. The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) in a statement said that there was a sharp rise in the number of visitors in the first half of the month which helped to avoid registering a considerable fall in the month.

According to figures, there was a growth in tourist arrivals by 35 percent in the first half of the month. Tourist arrivals from India went down by around 24 percent. Only 3,849 Indian tourists arrived during the month compared to 5,088 in the same period last year.

Tourist arrivals from the third countries registered a rise of 5.8 percent, with the number reaching 14,616 from 13,821.

Tourist arrivals from SAARC region decreased by 26.6 percent, while the numbers plunged by 10.7 percent from other Asian countries. The number of tourists from Bangladesh decreased by 49.6 percent, from Malaysia by 38 percent and from Pakistan by 41.1 percent. Similarly, the number of tourists from the US and Germany decreased by 15.2 percent and 7 percent respectively. However, visitors from France and the UK rose by 2.8 percent and 38.9 percent respectively.

Tourist arrivals in the first four months of the year 2006 rose by 13.3 percent. In the period, 81,601 tourists visited the country, up from 72,049 tourists in the same period last year.