Tourist arrivals drop 16% in January
February 03 , 2013
Tourist arrivals to Nepal via air in
the first month of 2013 declined by 15.9 percent, compared to figures of the
same period in 2012, mainly due to drop in arrivals from India, ongoing
economic crisis in euro zone countries and political uncertainty at home.
According to Immigration Office at
Tribhuvan International Airport, only 35,330 foreign tourists entered the
country via aerial route in January. In the same period last year, 42,031
foreign tourists had visited the country via air.
The number of Indian tourists, who make
up nearly one-third of total tourists arrivals, went down by 26.1 percent to
7,548 in January. Similarly, arrivals from China – one of the fastest growing
markets for Nepal -- dropped by 40.3 percent to 3,958. Total arrivals from
other South Asian markets like South Korea and Japan, however, posted positive
growth of 11.2 percent and 16.8 percent to 3,265 and 1,993, respectively.
Despite growth in the number of British
tourists by 6.6 percent in January, overall arrivals from Europe dropped by 15
percent due to slackness seen in flow of tourists from other European markets like
Germany, France and the Netherlands.
