940,218 tourists visited Nepal in 2017

January 3: The year 2017 was a good year for tourism in Nepal, which was plagued by a long political transition, earthquake and blockade during the past. Stakeholders in the field of tourism said that 2017 was a overall good for the tourism industry due to improvement in political situation and increased tourism activities. Around 940,218 tourists visited Nepal as of December 17, 2017, which is the maximum number of tourists visiting the country in a year till date.

Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Maheshwar Neupane, said that the relative increase in the number of tourists should be considered an achievement provided that Nepal lacks proper infrastructures for tourism.

He said that there would not be any problem in bringing in more tourists if we have adequate infrastructure.

“We haven’t been able to fulfill all the works but still tourists have been visiting Nepal time and again because of their love and affection for our country. If we are able to develop infrastructure, the number of tourists would surely rise,” he said.

Secretary Neupane pointed out the need of branding Nepali tourism in order to promote tourism. He added that the government will now onwards keep record of tourists visiting Nepal from land route.

Nepal Tourism Board’s CEO Deepak Raj Joshi says that various promotional activities done within the country and outside have helped in increasing the number of tourists.

Nepal’s tourism industry in back on track at a time when tourism entrepreneurs were struggling for survival instead of working to revive the industry.