KATHMANDU, Jan 1: Nepal welcomed more than 1.147 million tourists in 2024, as the tourism industry bounced back from the impacts of COVID-19 to welcome the third highest number of visitors which was short of the pre-pandemic level marginally.
According to the records with the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the aforementioned number of tourists entered the country as of the first hour of Tuesday, the last day of 2024. Nepal welcomed a record high number of tourists in 2019, with 1.197 million visitors. In 2018, the number was recorded at 1.173 million.
Although the arrival of tourists fell short of the government’s target of receiving 1.6 million tourists in 2024, the NTB records show a notable revival in the country’s hospitality businesses. Compared to 2023, the number increased by more than 133,000 in a year.
According to NTB Director Mani Raj Lamichhane, on average, 3,000 tourists visited Nepal daily, an increase of over 14 percent compared to 2023.
The arrival of tourists was almost halted from 2020 to 2022 due to the global pandemic.
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Travel restrictions and an economic slowdown triggered by lockdowns largely hit Nepal’s flourishing tourism industry in successive years of the COVID-19. Nepal received 230,085 and 150,962 tourists in 2020 and 2021, respectively. In 2022, the number however shot up to 614,869.
The latest six-month data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) shows that Nepal's tourism sector has recovered by 96 percent since the pandemic. According to Lamichhane, events such as the Nepal Premier League (NPL), the World Buddhist Conference, the International Balloon Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, and various national and international fairs and exhibitions also contributed to the rise in tourist arrivals in the review year.
In 2024, Nepal received the largest number of tourists in March, with the figure recording at 128,167 individuals, which was followed by 124,393 visitors in October. The least number was recorded in July, with only 64,599 individuals visiting the country.
With the bounce back of the tourism businesses, the country’s earning from tourists inflow increased to Rs 82.33 billion in the fiscal year 2023/24, up from Rs 62.3 billion in the previous year, shows the records with Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).
According to analysts, the tourism sector has shown a notable resurgence also with the government and tourism entrepreneurs focusing more to improve related infrastructure, increasing connectivity with other countries and diversification of tourism products.
The data of the World Travel and Tourism Council shows that Nepal’s tourism sector supported employment to 1.19 million people. The number is expected to have grown to 1.22 million in 2024.
Tourism contributed 6.6 percent to Nepal’s gross domestic product in 2023. In 2019, the sector contributed 6.7 percent to the country’s GDP.
