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, a total of 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. The data from the last 11 months show signs of hope for the tourism industry. The tourism industry is expected to gradually gain momentum if the government authorities pay attention to develop necessary infrastructures and ensure aviation and road safety issues. Special measures need to be taken to increase their average length of stay in Nepal.
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. While the number of tourists from India, Australia and the US shows a sharp decline, the number of tourists from China and European countries seems to have increased compared to the same period last year. This highlights the need to take additional measures to bring in more tourists from the US and India, which shares an open border with Nepal, while continuing further efforts to attract tourists from major source countries such as China and the European countries.
Kerala Tourism’s first STREET project inaugurated in Maravanthu...
Tourism entrepreneurs argue that the number of foreign tourists could have increased further if there was no issue of airfare hike amid maintenance of the country’s only fully functional Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). The upgrade work has caused a significant hike in the airfare as a result of the reduction in the number of flights to Nepal. 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, are believed to have contributed to the reduction in the number of foreign tourists to Nepal. As Nepal’s tourism has gained momentum despite all these odds, all government and non-government agencies concerned should take concerted measures to address the issues hindering the tourism industry to realize its full potential. While improving road and aviation safety and bringing improvement in tourism related infrastructures is a key, Nepal Tourism Board and Nepal’s diplomatic missions abroad must work towards increasing publicity. International promotion, marketing, international tourism fairs and familiarization activities are critical for the wider publicity. Given that Nepal has liberal visa regime as compared to other nations in the region, developing this Himalayan nation as an important destination of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) tourism, in additional to adventure tourism, could further boost the potential of Nepal’s tourism sector.
