Tourist arrivals grow by a meagre 2.5pc

Nepal witnessed a meager 2.5 percent growth in tourist arrivals in August, thanks to a negative growth in visits from India and China — the major source markets. Decline in arrivals from the long-haul markets — Germany, Switzerland, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand — was another contributing factor.

Last August, the growth rate was at 26.4 percent.

According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) statistics, Nepal received 44,571 tourists in August. However, arrivals from India and China dropped by 1.
2 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively. The overall Asian segment grew by just 4.2 percent in the month.

As of the first eight months of 2012, arrivals have reached 377,043, up 16.3 percent compared to a year ago. Travel trade analysts attributed the sluggish arrival growth to the lean tourist season. July-August is considered lean season.

Arrivals from Bangladesh rose by 72.3 percent, while 17 percent more Pakistanis visited Nepal in August compared to a year ago. The number of Sri Lankan visitors declined by 15.7 percent.

Arrivals from Asia (other than the South Asia region) also saw a slim 0.6 percent growth. Visitor arrivals from Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand recorded positive growth of 10.1 percent, 15.5 percent, 18.3 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.  However, the number of visitors from Singapore dropped by 5 percent.

An overall positive growth of 6.1 percent was observed from the European markets, with arrivals from Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Russia and Sweden growing by 26.3 percent, 104.5 percent, 21.6 percent, 0.7 percent, 61.6 percent, 20.3 percent, 104.9 percent, 22.6 percent and 143 percent, respectively.

However, arrivals from Germany, Switzerland, Spain, and UK declined by 33 percent, 2.6 percent, 15.6 percent, and 2.7 percent, respectively, compared to the same month last year.

While 2.7 percent more Australians visited Nepal in August compared to a year ago, visits from New Zealand, USA and Canada decreased by 9.8 percent, 1.9 percent, and 13 percent, respectively.

source: The Kathmandu Post,3 Sept 2012