KATHMANDU – Indian visitors are on rise to the picturesque Himalayan country of Nepal according to the country’s tourism board.
Indian tourists by far the largest market bounced back with a remarkable 13 per cent growth, according to Nepal Tourism Board. Nepals total tourist arrivals slightly declined in August 2008 as compared to the corresponding month in the previous year, the Board added.
Out of a total 26,313 tourists who arrived by air in August,7,927 were Indians. However, the total tourist arrivals by air has declined by 2 per cent in August.
Visitors from South Asian region show an overall positive growth of 16 per cent, with tourists from Bangladesh 48 per cent rise Pakistan and Sri Lanka, 45, 31 per cent respectively, according to the NTB.
However, other major markets including Japan, China and South Korea witnessed decrease by 9 per cent, 35 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.
European arrivals suffered significant decline with most of them from Germany, Italy and Spain at 37, 44, 28 per cent respectively. However, total visitors arrived from January to August has reached 224,679 registering a 2 per cent growth.
