Tourist Arrivals by Land (Jan-0ct) 2012

Bhairahawa top gateway for overland travellers

Tourist arrivals via surface route have increased 8.82 percent to 162,549 in the first 10 months of 2012, according to government statistics.

The country welcomed 656,568 tourists (by air and land) in the period January to October, up 10.61 percent year on year. In 2011, a total of 736,215 foreign tourists (545,221 by air and 190,994 by land) visited Nepal.  Among the seven land entry points (Kodari, Kakkarbhitta, Birgunj, Bhairahawa , Kanchanpur, Dhangadhi and Nepalgunj), Bhairahawa received 106,937 visitors, up 9.06 percent compared to the same period last year.

The south-western border point of Bhairahawa , the gateway to Lumbini, accounted for 66 percent of the total overland arrivals followed by Kodari on the Chinese border. Travel trade entrepreneurs said that the Bhairahawa figure shows an increase in pilgrimage to Lumbini as the purpose of visit. Lumbini is the birthplace of Lord Buddha.

However, they said that the growth in foreign visitors through Bhairahawa has been nominal with the country celebrating Visit Lumbini Year 2012. The government campaign has targeted attracting 500,000 foreign tourists to Lumbini this year. Meanwhile, Chinese arrivals through Kodari saw a rise of 10.7 percent to 44,638 in the first 10 months of 2012.

According to the Tourism Ministry, 48,862 Sri Lankans entered Nepal via surface routes in the first 10 months, the highest among overland visitors. The number of Chinese and Thai visitors amounted to 28,490 and 19,188 respectively. 

The stats show that the other five points suffered a negative growth. Arrivals through Kakkarbhitta dropped 8.26 percent, Kanchanpur 4.12 percent, Birgunj 1.78 percent, Nepalgunj 23.48 percent and Dhangadhi 37.83 percent compared to the same period last year.

Among the total overland visitors, 13,197 were Indian travellers who have been included in the country’s tourism data this year. Indian visitors were not included in the arrival figures last year. 

source: The Kathmandu post,24 nov 2012