Nepal welcomed 614,148 foreign tourists last year

Some 614,148 foreign tourists visited Nepal via air in 2022, almost five times compared to a year ago.

A year ago, in 2021, Nepal had been able to welcome only 150,962 foreign visitors due to Covid-19 pandemic ban on travel worldwide, though some 230,085 forign tourists visited Nepal in 2020.

The significant increase in foreign visitors in 2022 reflects Nepal's Covid-hit tourism industry's attempt to bounce back to normalcy, according to the travel entrepreneurs.

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) data revealed that some 67,932 foreign tourists visited Nepal via air in December, the last month of the year.

Tourist arrivals see a steady rise this year with April posting the highest number of tourist arrivals of the spring season with 61,589 tourists. 

However, some 88,582 foreign tourists entered Nepal via air in October, the largest monthly arrival this year, according to the NTB data.

Among the foreign countries, India continued to become the largest tourism market accounting for some 34.04 per cent - or 209,105 - of the total arrivals.

The US followed India with 77,009 visitors, whereas the United Kingdom ranked third largest tourist market with 44,781 visitors. Australia and Bangladesh are the fourth and fifth tourist markets, with 26,874 and 25,384 visitors, respectively.

Earlier, China also used to be one of the largest tourist market but due to Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese tourists could not visit Nepal.