Visitor Arrivals in August 2008 (by air only)

Visitor Arrivals in August 2008 (by air only)
September 1, 2008
News Release

The figures released by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport revealed that the total visitor arrivals till August 2008 have reached to 224,679. The figures represent an increase of 2% in comparison to the same period last year. However, the arrival figures in the month of August, 2008 compared to the same month last year have decreased by 2% to 26,313. On the other hand, the tourism industry has shown some signs of revival in the form of softening in decline as compared to 19% decrease in July 2008.

India, the largest tourist generating market for Nepal, bounced back with a remarkable growth of 13%. The entire South Asian region has gained overall positive growth of 16% with Bangladesh (48%), Pakistan (45%) and Sri Lanka(31%).

Similarly, other Asian countries Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia have maintained the upward trend with 77%, 59% and 16% of growth respectively in each market. The figures also reflect the revival in the visitors' arrivals from the United Kingdom, one of the major source markets for Nepal with a notable growth of 35%. Australia and Norway have also maintained the increasing trend in the arrival figures.

However, other major markets such as Japan, China, and South Korea witnessed decrease by 9%, 35% and 13% respectively. European arrivals also suffered a significant decline with Italy (44 %), Germany (37%) and Spain (28%).

It is interesting to note that a total of 28082 tourists departed from TIA in August 2008, which is higher than the total arrivals.