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Outbreak of peace fuels new tourism boom in Nepal

Wednesday - 11th April 2007

Kathmandu - Strong growth of visitors from Europe and Asia have pushed up Nepalese tourism figures in the first quarter of 2007, tourism officials said Wednesday. Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said the Himalayan nation recorded a significant growth in tourist arrivals for the third successive month in March, pushing the total number of visitors in the first three months to 82,857.

The figure represented a rise of 20,000 more tourists over the first quarter of 2006, when the country was mired in political crisis and violence.

Records showed European tourist arrivals by air in March jumped by 58.2 per cent while the Asian sector grew by 46.2 percent.

"Towering growth was observed from European markets. Tourist arrival from Germany in March was 2,321 a growth 74.2 per cent, UK with 3,241 recorded a growth of 45.9 per cent and French tourist arrival grew by 38.4 per cent," the NTB said.

European tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2007 were 45.3 per cent higher than 2006, the board said.

It said the number of tourists from East Asian countries continued to increase, pushed by dramatic growth from Malaysia (136.4 per cent), China (121.8 percent), South Korea (98 per cent) and Japan by 31.9 percent.

"These figures represent tourists arriving at Kathmandu's international airport. Arrival of third-country tourists from overland routes in India and Tibet has also risen significantly," board official Sharad Pradhan said.

"Looking at the current trends, we expected the total tourist arrival to cross half a million mark in 2007," Pradhan said.

The board said the increase of visitors was due to improved air connectivity in the region and the growing international confidence in "the new era of peace and stability in Nepal."

Tourism is one of Nepal's biggest foreign-exchange earners, bringing millions of dollars to the impoverished country and providing employment to hundreds of thousands of people.

However, it suffered considerably during the past six years as a Maoist insurgency scared off travellers planning to visit Nepal.

As a result, hundreds of small hotels were forced to shut down and thousands of people lost their jobs.

Tourism experts say with increased visitors since late last year, there is genuine hope that that the worst of the times for Nepal's tourism sector may have finally passed.


Source Earth Times