Tourist arrivals in the first month of the 2020 – the year Nepal is observing as Visit Nepal Year 2020 (VNY2020) – has dropped by 2 per cent compared to January 2019.
According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 79,686 tourists entered Nepal in January, down from 81,273 in the same month last year. “Of the total tourists, 65,983 flew into the country whereas remaining 13,703 entered the country through land routes," a press note issued by the board reads.
The government has inaugurated VNY2020 campaign amid much fanfare across the country on January 1 wishing to host 2 million tourist in the year. But January turned into an unfavourable month for the national campaign VNY2020 due to the recent incidents of tourist bus accident, avalanche in Annapurna region, death of Indian tourists and recent announcement of the Chinese government to halt outbound tourist groups, the board explained.
As China is the second largest market, the fall in the number of Chinese tourists is going to affect Nepali tourism industry, chief executive officer (CEO) of NTB Dhananjay Regmi said, adding that the board is postponing all its promotional activities in China for the short-term. “Instead, the board is preparing to add more activities for other countries.”
“Tourism is at the receiving end of coronavirus outbreak in China,” he said, adding that not only has Chinese tourists been affected, the fear of coronavirus has taken over its effect on tourists from India and Europe as well.
Though, Nepal is looking towards new another destinations including Japan, South Korea, and Sri Lanka, among others, as well as in the Middle East, the coronavirus outbreak in Hubei province of China could impact global tourism industry too making the outlook for February also not promising.
“The outlook for February is also not satisfactory, according to the tourism entrepreneurs. “The number is declining in February,” they said, adding that the drop could be even harsh in the second month. “The arrival graph is going down mainly due to drop in tourist numbers from China.”
India, China, the US, Myanmar and Thailand are the top five markets for Nepal as Nepal received 16,882 and 13,303 visitors from India and China, respectively, while it welcomed 6,386 visitors from the US, 4,447 from Myanmar and 4,010 from Thailand in January.
According to the board, some 39.1 per cent of the total tourists that visited Nepal in January were from Asian countries – except SAARC – and 26.9 per cent were from SAARC countries, whereas some 13 per cent of the total visitors were from European countries and 9.2 per cent were from the US. “Some 4.1 per cent of the total tourist, who visited Nepal in January were from Oceania region,” the board added.
According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 79,686 tourists entered Nepal in January, down from 81,273 in the same month last year. “Of the total tourists, 65,983 flew into the country whereas remaining 13,703 entered the country through land routes," a press note issued by the board reads.
The government has inaugurated VNY2020 campaign amid much fanfare across the country on January 1 wishing to host 2 million tourist in the year. But January turned into an unfavourable month for the national campaign VNY2020 due to the recent incidents of tourist bus accident, avalanche in Annapurna region, death of Indian tourists and recent announcement of the Chinese government to halt outbound tourist groups, the board explained.
As China is the second largest market, the fall in the number of Chinese tourists is going to affect Nepali tourism industry, chief executive officer (CEO) of NTB Dhananjay Regmi said, adding that the board is postponing all its promotional activities in China for the short-term. “Instead, the board is preparing to add more activities for other countries.”
“Tourism is at the receiving end of coronavirus outbreak in China,” he said, adding that not only has Chinese tourists been affected, the fear of coronavirus has taken over its effect on tourists from India and Europe as well.
Though, Nepal is looking towards new another destinations including Japan, South Korea, and Sri Lanka, among others, as well as in the Middle East, the coronavirus outbreak in Hubei province of China could impact global tourism industry too making the outlook for February also not promising.
“The outlook for February is also not satisfactory, according to the tourism entrepreneurs. “The number is declining in February,” they said, adding that the drop could be even harsh in the second month. “The arrival graph is going down mainly due to drop in tourist numbers from China.”
India, China, the US, Myanmar and Thailand are the top five markets for Nepal as Nepal received 16,882 and 13,303 visitors from India and China, respectively, while it welcomed 6,386 visitors from the US, 4,447 from Myanmar and 4,010 from Thailand in January.
According to the board, some 39.1 per cent of the total tourists that visited Nepal in January were from Asian countries – except SAARC – and 26.9 per cent were from SAARC countries, whereas some 13 per cent of the total visitors were from European countries and 9.2 per cent were from the US. “Some 4.1 per cent of the total tourist, who visited Nepal in January were from Oceania region,” the board added.
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