India tops Nepal's inbound tourist market in Feb

Kathmandu: As Nepal’s tourism industry recovers from the pandemic setback, India has been its top inbound tourist market in February, according to the data released by Nepal’s tourism authority on Saturday.

As per the data published by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), out of 97,426 tourists arriving in the country by air route last month, 25,578 were from India while China was on the second number with 9,180 visitors and the US with 9,089 visitors.

NTB Director Mani Lamichhane highlighted that although the data indicated over 25,000 Indian visitors to Nepal in February, the true figure is significantly higher due to a substantial influx of Indian tourists entering the country via land routes.

Thailand secured fourth place with 4,799 inbound visitors, while the UK and Bangladesh follow closely in fifth and sixth place on the list, with 4,571 and 4,099 tourists respectively. 

Nepal received 18,041 visitors from India in January this year.

In February, Nepal experienced a 33% increase in tourist arrivals via air routes compared to February 2023, which saw 73,255 visitors. 

This represents a remarkable recovery of 95.12% from the pre-COVID-19 period in 2019 when there were 102,423 tourist arrivals, according to NTB.

NTB Director Lamichhane expressed optimism about the revival of Nepal's tourism sector in 2024, citing the positive trend observed in February. 

He anticipates a significant uptick in visitor numbers as the tourism season kicks off after March.

(with agency inputs)