Tourist arrivals records sustained growth

The year 2009 ended with a positive note; both in terms of total visitor arrivals for the month of December and also for the whole year.
According to the figures released by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), visitor arrivals in the month of December, compared with the same month last year, have increased by 4.4 per cent to 31,396.
Also, the total number of visitor arrivals in aggregate (from January to December for the year 2009), compared with the year 2008, have also increased albeit by a mere 1.1 per cent to 378,712.
A total of 374,661 visitors had travelled Nepal by air in 2008. In The month of December of 2009, observe a robust growth of 51.4 per cent in visitor arrivals from China. Arrivals from Asia (other than South Asia) have also recorded positive growth. Visitor arrivals from South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand have registered a positive growth of 25.1 per cent, 7.8 per cent , 22 per cent, and 26.5 per cent, respectively. However Japan has suffered a decline by one per cent .
In aggregate the Asian segment (other than South Asia) has registered a positive growth of 19.4 per cent in December and 10.1 per cent in the the whole year, 2009.In the SAARC region, arrivals from Pakistan have grown by 8.2 per cent but arrivals from India and Sri Lanka have declined by five per cent and 31.5 per cent, respectively in December.
But in aggregate the South Asian segment has registered a negative growth of 4.3 per cent in the month of December and 2.5 per cent in the whole year of 2009.However, an overall positive growth of 10.1 per cent has been observed from the European markets for the month of December and 4.5 per cent in the year 2009.
Arrivals from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria up by 2.2 per cent, 4.3 per cent, 1.9 per cent, 30.6 per cent, 14.2 per cent and 37.1 per cent, respectively. The arrivals from Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland have registered only a marginal growth. But Spain, Denmark and Norway have posted a nominal negative growth.Tourist arrivals from Australia, Canada and USA have also registered remarkable growth of 13.8 per cent, five per cent and 10.9 per cent respectively. However the 'Others' category has witnessed a negative growth of 18.4 per cent in the month of December and 21.1 per cent in the whole year 2009.More than 75,058 trekkers visited Annapurna region in 2009, according to the number of permits issued by Annapurna Conservation Area Project offices in Kathmandu and Pokhara. Similarly 1,769 trekkers visited Manaslu region in the year 2009.According to UNWTO Tourism Barometer published in October 2009, till August, international tourism demand declined by seven per cent compared with the same period last year. If this general trend is continued through remaining of the year, full year results are expected to show a decline in arrivals of between four per cent and six per cent .
However Nepal has enjoyed a sustained positive growth in the international tourist arrivals since June, although the year started with a negative growth of 15.8 per cent in January.
The trend indicates that the decline in international tourism continues to bottom out. Similarly, a total of 34,991 foreign tourists departed from TIA in December. The number of Nepali arrivals stood at 49,845 while 58,611 Nepalis departed from TIA in December.
Similarly a total of 417,679 foreigners and 583,139 Nepalis departed from TIA in the whole year of 2009.