As many as 124,393 tourists arrived in Nepal in October this year, according to the latest data from the Nepal Tourism Board, marking a 6.04 percent rise in the number of visitors compared to the same month in 2023.
Last October, a total of 117,306 foreigners visited the country.
This rise brings the total number of foreign tourists entering Nepal in the first 10 months of 2024 to over 940,000. Last year, the country had welcomed over 1 million tourists for the first time in four years.
Prior to that, Nepal recorded aound 1.17 million foreign arrivals in 2018 and 1.19 million in 2019.
The promising trend also indicates a 92.76 percent post-pandemic recovery rate for Nepali tourism industry, which had welcomed 134,096 foreign visitors in October 2019.
After countries across the globe enforced travel restrictions in early 2020 to curb the spread of Covid-19, the inflow of tourists in Nepal plunged to 2,025 in October 2020.
But, the numbers have steadily improved in the following years, rising to 23,338 in October 2021 and climbing to 88,582 in October 2022.
In addition to the robust arrival figures, tourist departures for October 2024 were recorded at 1,04,682.
India continued to be the leading source of tourists to Nepal, with 16,313, or 13.11 percent of the arrivals. The United States followed closely with 16,023, or 12.88 percent of the arrivals.
Similarly, a total of 8,019 English, 7,750 Chinese and 6,929 Australians landed in Nepal in the period.
Other significant markets included Germany, France, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Italy, which accounted for 4.84 percent, 4.41 percent, 3.6 percent, 2.51 percent and 2.12 percent of the arrivals, respectively.
As the arrivals approach the pre-pandemic levels, stakeholders remain optimistic about a full recovery shortly.
