Tourists arrival by air continue to grow

Though the tourists season yet to start the monthof August has observed a growth in tourists arrival by air and Chinese tourists top the list in growth.
The figures of Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) reveals that tourists arrival in August -- compared to the same month last year -- have increased by five per cent to 27,676.
This August, there has been a robust growth of 87 per cent in tourist arrivals from China. Similarly, the arrivals from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand have also increased by 27 per cent, 44 per cent, 21 per cent and nine per cent respectively.
The Asian markets to decline in this month were Malaysia (13 per cent) and Chinese Taipei (21 per cent). In aggregate the Asian segment has registered a positive growth of 26 per cent.
In the SAARC region, arrivals from Bangladesh and Pakistan have witnessed positive growth of 23 per cent and 22 per cent respectively. However the arrivals from India have decreased by 10 per cent compared to the same month last year. Sri Lanka also witnessed a negative growth of one per cent this month, according to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).
An overall positive growth of 11 per cent has been observed from the European markets with arrivals from France up by nine per cent, Germany by 34 per cent, The Netherlands by 20 per cent, Spain by nine per cent and Denmark by 50 per cent.
The only market to decline in this month was the UK by 24 per cent. Tourist arrivals from New Zealand and Canada have also registered robust growth of 22 per cent and 88 per cent respectively. The arrivals from United States of America remained stable whereas the Australian market declined by four per cent compared to the same month last year. This is the third consecutive month Nepal has witnessed positive growth in the international tourist arrivals.
Recovery in the arrivals to Nepal in the beginning of second half of 2009 is in line with the marginal improvement observed in some of the economies. Moreover, it also reflects the rebounding confidence of the international tour operators and the resilient nature of tourism economy.
A total of 33,685 foreign tourists departed from TIA in August 2009 up by 20 per cent compared to the same month last year. The number of Nepalis arrivals stood at 46,852 while 51,653 Nepalis departed from TIA in August.