Himal Press 
Photo Courtesy: Pexels
KATHMANDU: Nepal welcomed 99,426 foreign tourists via air in March, indicating a significant recovery in the tourism industry. This is a marked increase from the 42,006 arrivals in the same month last year.
With this, the total arrivals in the first three months of 2023 have reached 227,725. Nepal welcomed 55,074 tourists in January and 73,255 in February.
Of the total arrivals, India accounted for one-fourth of the tourist arrivals, with 25,911 tourists from the southern neighbor visiting Nepal in March. This accounts for 26.1% of the total arrivals for the month.
During the month, arrivals from the South Asia region reached 33,454, accounting for 33.6% of the total arrivals. Additionally, 15,643 tourists from the Asian region, excluding SAARC countries, visited Nepal during the review month. Among them, Thailand was the largest contributor with 3,829 arrivals, followed by South Korea (2,639) and China (2,635).
Furthermore, Europe accounted for 23.4% of total tourists in March. The United Kingdom, Germany, and France were the major tourist markets for Nepal in the review month. The country received 6,133 visitors from the United Kingdom, while the number of tourists from Germany and France was 4,149 and 3,009, respectively.
After India, the United States was the largest tourist-generating market for Nepal in the review month, with 9,557 US nationals visiting the country. The total number of arrivals from the Americas sector was 11,264. In addition, the Oceania and Middle East sectors contributed 3,958 and 1,467 arrivals, respectively.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, tourist arrivals to Nepal reached an all-time high of 1.12 million in 2019. However, the global travel industry was significantly impacted by the pandemic, and Nepal only received 150,962 tourists in 2021, which was the lowest number in decades.
In 2022, however, tourist arrivals rebounded to 614,148.
