Tourist arrivals up 12.9 pc

Palace officials worked even on Saturday as it has been given Tuesday's deadline by the committee to prepare the inventory. Dr Kusum's panel is trying to finish its report by Sunday.

KATHMANDU, Feb 1 - Nepal tourism continued its upward trend with arrivals growing by 12.9 percent in January. The data of the Nepal Tourism Board shows that 26,064 tourists entered the country by air during that period, up from 23,079 tourists during the same period last year.

Inbound tourism has been rising following the end of the conflict. In 2007, a record number of sightseers entered the country exceeding the projected half a million arrivals.

A breakdown by tourist originating country shows that the European and American markets maintained robust growth. The number of European tourists increased by 331.1 percent to reach 5,442 persons. French tourists numbered 1,032 persons (up 78.5 percent) while British visitors numbered 1,543 persons (up 33.9 percent). The flow of tourists from the US increased by 28 percent to reach 2,046 persons. However, the Indian market performed poorly, with arrivals from the southern neighbor falling by 12.2 percent to 6,440 persons. In January last year, 7,335 Indian vacationers flew into Nepal.

The NTB in a statement said the influx of tourists would grow further in the coming days because of the increased number of flights to Nepal.

Posted on: 2008-02-01 (The Kathmandu Post)