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'Arrival Picks Up From The Neighboring Markets'

Monday - 08th August 2005

Visitors' inflow to Nepal by air in July 2005 registered an increase of 4% compared to the same period last year. The total arrival reached 19,505 during the month. Arrivals from neighboring markets viz. India, Bangladesh and China grew up markedly in the month. The number of Indian visitors improved by 23%, while the non-Indian segment showed a decline. This was stated in the figures released today by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport.

Indian arrivals with this gain and considerable market share indicate the mounting confidence towards the destination. Persistent media coverage on Nepal as a travel destination and presence of television advertisement in the Indian market has resulted in re-building assurance for visitors. The improving accessibility for the Indian market to Nepal with numerous airlines connecting five cities has certainly added to this increase.

The inflow from Bangladesh has gone up by 78% in the month, indicating a result of better connectivity and availability of competitive packages. Among the other Asian markets, the gains have come from China (34%), Taiwan (24%) and Thailand (167%). Unlike its positive performance in the first half of the year, the Malaysian market suffered (-10%) as Qatar Airways recently decided to pull out from the sector. The Japanese arrivals too declined by 31%.

The American arrivals showed a remarkable increase of 137% in the month whereas the European sector showed an overall decline of 7%. There were mixed results from Europe with gains from British (6%), Dutch (4%) and Belgian (2%) markets while decline from Germany (-10%), France (-18%), Spain (-13%) and Italy (-10%).

On the improving Indian arrivals and its prospects NTB's CEO Mr. Tek Bahadur Dangi said, "We are at a better position with regards to the connectivity with the India sector at present. This can be of strategic significance if we are able to cater not only the Indian visitors but also to the inbound to India with our connectivity. The inbound to India itself is growing rapidly with 4.5 million arrivals in 2004. There is high possibility of floating more joint India Nepal packages in the long haul markets."


Source NTB