The past three months have seen a drastic rise in foreign tourists entering the country. On average, around 49,000 foreign tourists per month entered Nepal in the 11 months of 2022. This is good news for the tourism industry that suffered a major setback due to the Covid pandemic as monthly tourist arrivals in some months of 2020 and 2021 were zero.

Director of Nepal Tourism Board, Maniraj Lamichhane, says things look good for the tourism sector. According to Lamichhane, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimated that 2023 would see a revival in tourist arrivals somewhere between 60 to 63 per cent of the world compared to 2019.

“The increment is something similar compared to the end of 2019,” says Lamichhane.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board, a total of 546,216 tourists have come to Nepal as of November. According to this, an average of 49,656 tourists come to Nepal every month. In November alone, 72,653 tourists came to Nepal. 

This was still less than the 2019 numbers when over 130,000 tourists came to Nepal in November alone and over a million in the year. As usual, most tourists still come to Nepal for adventure tourism as a majority of them come to trek in the high mountains and some climb them. The number has continued to rise despite issues like Covid and dengue.

But, tourism professionals say although the statistics show good signs, the old challenges still remain. Nilhari Bastola, the president of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), says that the arrival of non-resident Nepalis also played a role in the rapid increase in international tourist arrivals after the Covid pandemic.

“The arrival of many non-resident Nepalis, who have not been able to come to Nepal for a long time, has also increased the number,” he says, “The numbers look great, but its impact on the revival of tour companies and hotels is yet to be seen.”