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Nepal tourism looking up following slump
Sep 2, 2009, 5:24 GMT
Kathmandu - Tourist arrivals in Nepal are showing signs of recovery despite a slump in the first half of 2009 due to the world financial crisis, the Nepalese Tourism Board said Wednesday.
The Nepal Tourism Board said arrivals by air in August were up by 5 per cent from the corresponding period last year, with 27,676 people visiting the country.
The numbers were pushed up by tourists from Europe, South-east and East Asia while arrivals from North America were stable, it said.
'The number of visitors from China increased by 87 per cent in August while those arriving from Japan, Singapore and South Korea also recorded double-digit increases,' the board said in a statement.
The European market, a major source of tourists to Nepal, also recorded strong growth, with arrivals from France up by 9 per cent, Germany by 34 per cent, the Netherlands by 20 per cent, Spain by 9 per cent and Denmark by 50 per cent.
'A total of 217,242 tourists arrived in Nepal in the first eight months of 2009 via air, which is only 3 per cent lower than the figures for the corresponding period in 2008,' the tourism board said.
'The growth suggests that the tourism sector may be recovering from the financial crisis and also reflects the rebounding confidence of the international tour operators and the resilient nature of tourism economy,' it said.
Tourism is one of Nepal's main sources of foreign exchange.
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