Effects of financial crisis seen in Nepal tourism plunge

Feb 2, 2009, 10:46 GMT

   Kathmandu - Nepal's tourism industry suffered a sharp downturn as tourist arrivals in January dropped by nearly 16 per cent, officials said Monday.

   Figures released by Nepal Tourism Board said 21,944 tourists visited Nepal in January, a drop of 15.8 per cent from January 2008.

'The entire European markets except for Belgium and Denmark along with Japan, South Korea and the United States all recorded negative growth,' the board said. 'The number of tourists from Europe fell by 23.5 per cent while the American arrivals fell by 17.6 per cent.'

   Even Indian tourists, who account for nearly a quarter of all visitors to Nepal, decreased by 17.6 per cent.

'The global financial crisis could be the reason for the fall, but other reasons such as terrorist attacks in Mumbai and protests in Thailand could also have played a part,' tourism board manager Laxman Gautam said.

Nepal's tourism industry had been growing steadily over the past two years following a ceasefire between the government and the Maoist rebels that ended decade-long communist insurgency.

   Last year was the most successful year for Nepalese tourism industry with some 550,000 people visiting the Himalayan nation, officials said.

   There are now fears that the fall could once again signal hard times for the industries which suffered considerably during the insurgency.

   Nearly a quarter of million people are directly employed by tourism, which is a major earner of foreign exchange for the country.