The tourism sector of the country, which has been badly affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, is gradually improving. The arrival of foreign tourists has been found positive even in the awkward situation of the epidemic when it comes to the third wave of Covid.
Although the tourism sector is very skeptical of the latest Omicron variant of Covid, its impact is small and more than half of the population has been vaccinated already, so the tourism sector seems to be expanding. Recent tourist arrivals confirm this.
According to the statistics provided by the Nepal Tourism Board quoting the Immigration Department, more than 16,000 foreign tourists have entered Nepal in January 2022. In January, 16,975 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal by air. In the same month of the previous year 2021, 8,874 foreign tourists had visited Nepal. It is 91.3 percent more than the corresponding month of the previous year. In January, 17,984 foreigners left Nepal.
The Tourism Board is of the view that this improvement in foreign tourist traffic, a major source of foreign exchange earnings, has provided some positive energy to the tourism sector. Maniraj Lamichhane, director of the board, said that the current tourist arrivals are improving and positive amidst the uneasy situation of the epidemic. "It is a very positive thing that 16,000 more tourists have arrived in Nepal even in the current unfavorable situation as compared to the same month of last year. It conveys the message that real tourists have started coming to Nepal now.”
This time the highest number (5,505) of tourists have come from SAARC countries. The highest number of 3,916 tourists from neighboring India and 1,231 from Bangladesh have entered Nepal. 3,527 tourists have come to Nepal from Europe, 1,114 from Asia and other countries, 3,618 from USA and Canada, 1,240 from Australia and New Zealand, and 1,975 from other countries. In 2021, 150,962 and in 2020, 230,000 foreign tourists visited Nepal. In 2019, 1.197 million tourists had visited Nepal.
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