Tourists visiting Lumbini up by 40.57 pc

BHAIRAHAWA : Number of tourists visiting Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha, increased by 40.57 percent to 1.19 million in 2014.

According to the data of Lumbini Development Fund (LDF), a total of 849,273 tourists had visited Lumbini last year. In 2012, Lumbini had welcomed 758,269 visitors.

Hari Dhwoj Rai, information officer of LDF, said tourists from 83 different countries visited Lumbini in 2014.

Domestic tourists topped the list of tourist visiting Lumbini in 2014, followed by visitors from India. A total of 902,621 Nepalis visited Lumbini in 2014, up from 573,529 in 2013.

Likewise, a total of 154,217 Indian tourists visited Lumbini in 2104 compared to 150,000 in 2013. Similarly, Lumbini welcomed 136,999 third country tourists in 2014 compared to 125,492 in 2013.

Among third countries, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Myanmar, South Korea, Vietnam and Japan were the major tourist generating markets for Lumbini. Lumbini welcomed 37,600 tourists from Sri Lanka, 24,733 from Thailand, 20,718 from China, 18,777 from Myanmar, 8,790 from South Korea, 3,649 from Vietnam, and 2,527 from Japan in 2013. Similarly, arrivals from US, Australia, UK, Germany, Switzerland and France also increased in 2014."Number of tourists to Lumbini increased due to stable political situation in the country following the successful Constituent Assembly (CA) election promotion of Nepali tourism products and services in the international market," Rai said, adding, "Visit of foreign diplomats during the recently held SAARC Summit also helped to promote Lumbini."

Number of international conferences like International Buddhist Conference and International conference of SAARC Psychiatric Federation also helped to increase the number of tourists in Lumbini, according to Rai.

source:republica,5 jan 2015