E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, JUL 02 -

Tourist arrivals by air to Nepal increased 25 percent in the first six months of

Nepal Tourism Year (NTY). A total of 245,363 tourists entered Nepal via air during the period January-June against 196,319 in the same period last year.

The growth trend in the first six months shows that the country is likely to fall short of its target to host 700,000 international visitors by air in NTY by around 100,000. Nepal has targeted attracting 300,000 overland tourists.

There were 252,469 international visitors by air during July-December 2010. The current growth shows that the country will get fewer than 600,000 visitors in 2011.

Travel trade entrepreneurs said that current arrival trends were satisfactory, however they were lower than expected. They added that lack of attractive tour packages, government’s unwillingness to grant free visas to Chinese visitors and a widened gap between the government and the private sector were the major reasons the target was likely to be unfulfilled.  Neither the private sector (especially hotels and airlines) have introduced special packages for tourists in NTY, nor has the government helped private players for tourism promotion, said travel trade entrepreneur Ram Kazi Koney. 

Similarly, the Tourism Ministry’s plan to dump the planned consumer publicity in India, China and other source market has also affected the much-hyped campaign. The Tourism Ministry is in favour of postponing the proposed campaign and conducting it from next year in a proper way to create a wider impact. The private sector has described the current growth as being natural.

“The growth is a natural one and tourists are coming to Nepal without international marketing,” said Basanta Raj Mishra, past president of the Nepal Association of Tour Operators.

Mishra added that without international marketing, it was not possible to attract tourists in this competitive tourism market. However, he hoped that the target could still be realized if

the private and the government go hand in hand for international promotion. “Against all odds, we can still achieve the target or even surpass it,” he said.

The Nepal Tourism Board said that the growth in the first six months had shown rising travel demand towards Nepal. Visitor arrivals in June 2011 have jumped 37.9 percent to 37,226 compared to the same month last year.

In June, the South Asian segment registered a positive growth of 52.4 percent. India which constitutes the major market for Nepal, recorded a healthy growth of 59.3 percent. Also, arrivals from Pakistan and Sri Lanka increased by 23.1 percent and 46.5 percent respectively. However arrivals from Bangladesh declined 12.5 percent.

Arrivals from Asia (other than South Asia) have also recorded positive growth of 31.9 percent in aggregate. Visitor arrivals from China doubled with a 105.4 percent growth compared to the same month last year.

Similarly, arrivals from Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand have also increased 18.9 percent, 6.3 percent, 35.9 percent and 2.9 percent respectively. However, arrivals from Singapore declined by 54.9 percent.

An overall positive growth of 10.9 percent has been observed from the European market with arrivals from major generating markets such as the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Russia up 11.8 percent, 11.2 percent, 28.6 percent, 34.8 percent, 18.3 percent, 35.3 percent, and 47.3 percent respectively.

Tourist arrivals from Australia and New Zealand have increased 38.9 percent and 170.4 percent respectively. Also, arrivals from the US saw a positive growth of 24.3 percent. However, arrivals from Canada decreased 3.8 percent.

Arrivals in First Six Months

Year    Arrivals

2011    245,363

2010    196,319

 

Posted on: 2011-07-02 09:35

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