KATHMANDU, JUNE 1

Over 400,000 foreign tourists entered Nepal via air in the first five months of 2023, indicating an increase in tourism activities compared to past years.

According to the data released by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) today, a total of 77,703 international tourists visited Nepal in May from over 180 different countries, which is a substantial increase compared to the arrival of 53,608 in the corresponding month of 2022, 1,531 in March of 2021, and only 31 in March of 2020 According to NTB, tourism activities have recovered by 99.20 per cent compared to 2019, when 78,329 tourists visited the country in May before the spread of COVID-19.

Last month, India emerged as the top source country for tourists visiting Nepal, with a total of 35,575 Indian nationals visiting the country. In comparison, the number of Indian tourists who visited Nepal in the same month last year was 26,662.

The United States was second-largest source country of tourists visiting Nepal in March, with a total of 8,545 American nationals arriving in the country, a slight increase from the 7,274 American tourists who visited Nepal in May 2022.

Similarly, a total of 4,667 tourists were from China; 2,927 from the United Kingdom; 2,184 from Australia; 2,164 from Bangladesh; 1,321 from Malaysia; 1,165 from Germany; 1,097 from France and 1,039 from South Korea, among others.

In geographic terms, a total of 40,362 tourists or 51.9 per cent visited Nepal from SAARC countries; 9,237 tourists or 11.9 per cent from Asia; 9,510 tourists or 12.2 per cent from Europe; 2,482 tourists or 4.6 per cent from Oceania; 9,576 tourists or 12.3 per cent from Americas; 659 tourists or 0.8 per cent from Middle-East and 5,877 or 7.6 per cent from countries categorised as others.