Nepal welcomed record half a million tourists via
air over the first eleven months of 2011.
According to Tribhuvan International Airport
Immigration Office, a total of 501,264 visitors entered the country via air
till November, 2011.
βThe last eleven months have seen consistent
healthy growth of international tourist arrivals to Nepal at an average of 21.5
percent β around 1,518 visitors a day β to a record a historic high of
501,264,β Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said in a statement.
A total of 58,156 tourists visited Nepal via air
in November. This is a healthy rise of 20.3 percent when compared to arrival
figure of the same period last year.
Nepal is celebrating the year 2011 as Nepal
Tourism Year (NTY) campaign with the target of welcoming one million visitors.
The target includes arrival via road as well.
The South Asian region, except for Bangladesh, recorded
positive growth during the month. Arrivals from India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan
registered growth of 22.1 percent, 22.1 percent and 27.4 percent respectively. Bangladesh
witnessed a negative growth of 11.8 percent.
China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea
maintained the upward trend with 149.4 percent, 6.2 percent, nine percent,16.9
percent and 11.3 per cent of growth, respectively.
Except for Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, the Europe also maintained
positive growth. Arrivals from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand also
increased compared to the same month last year.