April 2: The number of tourists arriving in Nepal by air route has increased by 33.78 percent in the first three months of 2024. According to the data published by the Nepal Tourism Board on Monday, 304,693 foreign tourists have arrived in Nepal from January to March in 2024. This number was 227,755 in the corresponding period of 2023.

The Tourism Board’s data shows an improvement in arrival of tourist since the beginning of 2024. This year, the tourist arrival in March was 28.9 percent more than last March. According to the board, 128,167 tourists arrived in Nepal by air this year in March. In March 2023, the number was 99,426.

The board said that the overall tourist arrival has increased as most of the tourists who prefer trekking and mountain climbing in Nepal come in the spring season. Tourism entrepreneurs say that March and April are considered suitable seasons for mountain climbing and trekking, so the tourist arrival will increase further.

Neelhari Bastola, president of Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAN), said that arrival of tourists will increase this April as compared to last April. He says that the number of tourists arriving here for mountain climbing will increase as the next two months are favourable for climbimg mountains. Bastola added that the trekking business is increasing now. “There will be a slight pressure on the business as the number of tourists coming for trekking will increase for about one and a half months, but this situation will decrease gradually in the following months,'' he said.

The Department of Tourism has already started issuing climbing permits to mountaineers for this season. As always, India leads the list of countries that send the most tourists in March. A total of 30,698 tourists from India arrived in Nepal in the review month. The number of Chinese tourists has also increased. In March, 12,093 tourists came from China.

According to the board, the arrival of Indian tourists in March this year has increased by 18.5 percent compared to last March. Likewise, the arrival of Chinese tourists has increased by 358 percent compared to last March.

Similarly, 10,763 tourists from America, 7,241 from Britain, 5,741 from Sri Lanka and 5,255 from Germany have arrived in Nepal followed by tourists from Thailand, Myanmar, France and Australia.

Tourism entrepreneurs say that along with the improvement in arrival of tourists, emphasis should be placed on the improvement of tourism infrastructure.

"There is still not enough infrastructure to increase the number of tourists," said Bastola adding that it is imperative for the government to make full use of the Gautam Buddha and Pokhara international airports and to expand the quality road network.