KATHMANDU, Nepal–The number of foreign tourists visiting Nepal in the month of June 2014 has sharply dropped down, by 0.30% to 41,137, compared to the same month last year.
According to the figure released by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the South Asian segment has registered negative growth of 1.04%. India, which constitutes the major market of Nepal, has recorded negative growth of 2.21%.
Also, arrivals from Pakistan and Sri Lanka have decreased by 5.54 % and 28.97% respectively. However, arrivals from Bangladesh have increased by 17.43%.
Arrivals from Asia (other than South Asia) have also recorded positive growth of 0.49% in aggregate. The visitor arrivals from China grew by 10% compared to the same month last year. Similarly, the arrivals from Singapore and Thailand have also increased by 12.56% and 5.79% respectively. Japan, South Korea and Malaysia markets saw declines of 13%, 31.8% and 1.98% respectively.
An overall negative growth of 13.27% has been observed from the European markets with negative growths from markets such as the UK, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France and Germany 10.24%, 3.50%, 24.64%, 13.90%, 16.25% and 17.85% respectively. However, arrivals from Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland have increased by 71.05%, 6.67% and 12.77% respectively compared to the same month last year.
Tourist arrivals from Australia, New Zealand and the USA have increased by 18.69%, 37.65% and 5.68% respectively. However, arrivals from Canada have decreased by 15.76% respectively.