2010 begins with surge in tourists’ arrival

Nepal continued to enjoy the sustained positive growth in the international visitor arrivals that has started since June 2009 in the first month of this year too.
According to the Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), visitor arrivals in January, compared with the same month last year, have increased by 18.8 per cent to 26,071.
Almost all the sector has shown positive growth in the first month of 2010. India, which constitutes the major market, has recorded positive growth of 9.9 per cent. In the SAARC region, arrivals from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have registered positive growth by 43.3 per cent, 37.3 per cent and 9.9 per cent respectively.
In aggregate the South Asian segment has registered a positive growth of 15.6 per cent.Arrivals from Asia -- other than South Asia -- have also recorded positive growth in aggregate but countrywise the region has shown mixed performance. Visitor arrivals from Japan, Malaysia and South Korea have registered a positive growth by 19.5 per cent, 57.2 per cent and 87.2 per cent respectively.
However, China, Thailand and Singapore have registered negative growth of 18.3 per cent, 25.1 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively. In aggregate the Asian segment has registered a positive growth of 15.4 per cent, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) saidAn overall positive growth of 34.9 per cent has been observed from the European markets with arrivals from major generating markets such as the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland up by 12.6 per cent, 17 per cent, 25.8 per cent, 40.9 per cent, 92.2 per cent, 62.4 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively. Tourist arrivals from Australia, Canada and USA have also registered robust growth of 17.5 per cent, 69.2 per cent and 10.2 per cent respectively.“The figures reflect confidence among visitors and tour operators to Nepal,” said the NTB.
Last year India showed mixed performance in visitor arrivals to Nepal however the start of the year has begun with positive note. The sustained positive growth will undoubtedly be effective in turning Nepal Tourism Year 2011 a grand success.A total of 31,672 foreign tourists departed from TIA in January 2010. The number of Nepalis arrivals stood at 57,894 while 65,383 Nepalese departed from TIA in January 2010.