December 2: Arrival of tourists, which had dropped significantly in the last two years, has been encouraging this year. According to government data, the number of tourists visiting Nepal this year is almost the same as that of seven years ago.

Nepal Tourism Board informed that more than half a million tourists have already visited Nepal in the 11 months of 2022. The figure is better than the arrival of tourists in 2015.

The maximum number of tourists had visited Nepal in 2019 but the tourism industry since then had been struggling after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic until some significant improvements in 2022.

According to the data of the NTB, arrival of tourists has improved significantly this year compared to the last two years. The NTB informed that a total of 546,216 tourists arrived in Nepal between January to November this year. In 2015, a total of 538,970 tourists had visited Nepal. The arrival of tourists had declined in 2015 due to the devastating earthquakes.

Past data reveal that more than half a million tourists have visited Nepal every year since 2008. However, the figure dropped to 230,085 in 2020 owing to the pandemic. This is the first time that such a large number of tourists have arrived in the country in the post-pandemic period.

According to the data unveiled by the tourism board on Thursday, a total of 72, 653 tourists arrived in Nepal in November this year. Normally, the arrival of tourists is better in the months of October, November and December as these months are ideal for tourists.

Meanwhile, a total of 88,582 tourists have arrived Nepal this October.

Most of the tourists visiting Nepal are from India, the UK, the USA, followed by tourists from Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Thailand, Malaysia, Belgium, France, Germany, Russia, Australia, New Zaland, Israel, Turkey, the UAE as well as China.