Plane crash, airport closures, air fare hike and natural disasters leave lingering effects on tourism
KATHMANDU, Dec 2: Over 1 million tourists visited Nepal in the first 11 months of 2024, marking a significant milestone for the country’s tourism sector. The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) reported that 1,055,533 tourists entered Nepal between January and November via air and other means. This is the third time Nepal has surpassed the 1 million tourist mark.
The surge in tourist arrivals has boosted the morale of the tourism industry. In November 2024, 114,501 tourists visited Nepal, a 5.4 percent increase compared to November 2023, when 108,630 tourists arrived. This figure also reflects an 88 percent recovery compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, when 130,302 tourists visited the country. Departures from Nepal in November totaled 126,457.
“The data from the last 11 months show signs of hope for the tourism industry,” said NTB Director Mani Lamichhane. “We believe tourism will gradually gain momentum.”
According to the NTB, a total of 31,167 tourists arrived in Nepal from SAARC countries in November alone. As many as 19,915 people arrived from India in the review month. This is a decrease of 18.5 percent compared to the same period last year, when 24,443 Indian tourists had arrived. A total of 5,148 tourists arrived from Bangladesh, 381 from Pakistan, 1,328 from Bhutan and 4395 from Sri Lanka.
Similarly, the data from the Department of Immigration show that 10,981 tourists arrived from the United States, which is a decrease of 4.2 percent compared to November last year. Likewise, 6,611 tourists arrived from the United Kingdom, and 9,458 tourists arrived from China in November. The number of Chinese tourists increased by 24.5 percent compared to November last year.
326,667 tourists arrive in eight months
Meanwhile, the number of European tourists has increased significantly. In November, the number of European tourists rose by 15.3 percent. A total of 26,155 tourists arrived from Europe, with the highest number coming from the United Kingdom – 6,611 tourists followed by visitors from Germany (3,926) and France (3,841).
Similarly, 4,829 tourists arrived from Australia, which is a decrease of 4.5 percent compared to the same period last year.
In January 2024, a total of 79,100 tourists visited Nepal followed by 97,426 tourists in February, 128,167 in March, 111,376 in April, 90,211 in May, 76,736 in June, 64,599 in July, 72,719 in August, 96,305 in September and 124,393 tourists in October.
Impact of airfare hikes and TIA maintenance
Despite an increase in tourist numbers, rising airfare costs and airport closures have caused concerns. There has been a reduction in international flight operations due to the expansion of the taxiway at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) but this has not adversely affected the number of tourists.
The number of international flights at TIA has been slightly reduced since the second week of November.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has been closing Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at night, from 10 PM to 8 AM, for maintenance since November 8. Tourism entrepreneurs have expressed concerns that this closure is starting to impact the tourism industry.
NTB director Lamichhane highlighted that the high airfare and limited flights, combined with other factors like the Saurya Airlines crash, bus accidents in July, and September’s floods and landslides, have impacted tourist arrivals.
“The number of tourists from America and Australia has decreased due to high air fare. The impact in tourist arrival by air has also been affected to some extent due to the Saurya Airlines plane crash, various bus accident cases on July, 2024, flood and landslides from September 26 to 28 and Tribhuvan International being closed for 10 hours,” NTB director Lamicchane told Republica. “However, international tourist arrivals globally have rebounded to 96 percent,” he added.
Director Lamichhane stated that the recent abnormal increase in airfare has created apprehension among tourists, with reports of tickets being unavailable or overly expensive.
About 70% of NTB's budget to be allocated for promotion
NTB has decided to prioritize promotion as its main agenda after almost a decade. The board has allocated about 70 percent of its Rs 1.81 billion budget for the fiscal year 2024/25, for national and international promotion.
International promotion, marketing, international tourism fairs, and familiarization activities will utilize about 70 percent of the budget.
Fees collected from foreign tourists serve as NTB's primary source of income. Each foreign tourist departing Nepal pays Rs 1,000 per person, excluding VAT, directly through their airfare. This fee supports NTB’s promotional activities internationally and strengthens Nepal's global visibility.
