Tourist arrivals cross half a million mark in 11 months
Published :
2012-01-09
Nepal welcomed record half a million tourists via air over the first eleven months of 2011. According to Tribhuvan International Airport Immigration Office, a total of 501,264 visitors entered the country via air till November, 2011. “The last eleven months have seen consistent healthy growth of international tourist arrivals to Nepal at an average of 21.5 percent — around 1,518 visitors a day — to a record a historic high of 501,264,” Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said in a statement. A total of 58,156 tourists visited Nepal via air in November. This is a healthy rise of 20.3 percent when compared to arrival figure of the same period last year. Nepal is celebrating the year 2011 as Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) campaign with the target of welcoming one million visitors. The target includes arrival via road as well. The South Asian region, except for Bangladesh, recorded positive growth during the month. Arrivals from India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan registered growth of 22.1 percent, 22.1 percent and 27.4 percent respectively. Bangladesh witnessed a negative growth of 11.8 percent. China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea maintained the upward trend with 149.4 percent, 6.2 percent, nine percent,16.9 percent and 11.3 per cent of growth, respectively.
Except for Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, the Europe also maintained positive growth. Arrivals from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand also increased compared to the same month last year.
