Over 73,000 foreign tourists enter Nepal via air route in February

KATHMANDU: More than 73,000 foreign tourists entered Nepal via air route in the month of February this year.

As per the data of the Nepal Tourism Board, 73,255 foreign tourists visited Nepal in the month of February. The number was 55,074 in the previous month of January.

Similarly, the number was 19,766 in the corresponding month of the previous year, 2022 and 9,146 in 2021. NTB Director Maniraj Lamichhane said number of foreign tourists visiting Nepal is enthusiastic in recent days.

The total arrivals by air included 18,401 from India, 7,887 from US, 4,802 from Thailand, 3,246 from South Korea, 2,969 from Australia, 2,266 from China, 2,232 from Myanmar, 2,117 from Sri Lanka and 2,108 from Germany.

The total number of foreign tourists visiting Nepal annually, which had decreased due to COVID-19 pandemic, slightly increased in 2022. A total of 614,148 tourists visited Nepal in 2022. The number was 1.197 in 2019, just before the coronavirus pandemic.

The arrival of foreign tourists had decreased by 81 per cent in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic while 230,085 tourists visited in 2022 and 150,962 in 2021.