Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Tourist arrivals to Nepal via air in May increased by 16.1% to 90,211 compared to the same period last year. Nepal had welcomed 77,703 foreign tourists in May 2023.
Tourist arrivals to Nepal have been increasing consistently since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The arrival numbers fell to 230,085 in 2020 and further dipped to 150,962 in 2021 due to the pandemic. However, the figures improved to 614,869 in 2022 and rebounded strongly to 1,014,876 in 2023.
The tourist arrivals over the first five months of 2024 suggest that Nepal is well on track to receive record tourist numbers this year. The country had welcomed an all-time high of 1,197,191 tourists in 2019.
Until May this year, Nepal has welcomed 506,280 foreign tourists. In January, the country received 79,100 tourists, and the number grew to 97,426 in February and further to 128,167 in March. Last year, a total of 111,376 foreign tourists entered Nepal via air during the same period.
May marks the end of the spring tourist season in Nepal. The number of tourists typically decreases in the next three months before the tourist footfall starts picking up in September when the autumn season begins.
