Tourist arrivals surge 15.7% in January

KATHMANDU: The Nepali tourism industry made a strong start in 2026, with the country welcoming 92,573 international visitors in January.

According to data released by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) on Sunday, the figure represents a 15.7% growth compared to the arrival numbers in the same month last year, while it is 13.9% higher than pre-pandemic arrivals recorded in January 2019.

India remained the largest source of tourists in the review month, accounting for 26,624 arrivals, or 28.8% of the total. China followed as the second-largest market with 9,101 visitors (9.8%), while the United States ranked third with 8,406 arrivals (9.1%) of the total. Bangladesh and Australia completed the top five, contributing 5,814 (6.3%) and 4,957 (5.4%) visitors, respectively.

Region-wise data shows South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries accounted for 39.3% of total arrivals in January. Other Asian countries accounted for 26.1%, followed by Europe at 12.3% and the Americas at 10.8%. Data show Oceania made up 5.7% of arrivals, while the Middle East and Africa accounted for 1% and 0.4%, respectively. Visitors from other regions contributed 4.5% to the total.

Nepal welcomed a total of 1,158,459 international visitors in 2025, representing a slight increase of approximately 1% over 2024 and a 97% recovery compared to the 2019 pre-pandemic level.