Indians top foreign tourists visiting Nepal

As per the first six months’ reports of 2018 by the Immigration Department of Nepal, almost one lakh Indians visited the Himalayan Nation, out of the total 5,20,000 foreign tourists.

Chinese came second with 71,379 visitors, while US became third 43,816 visitors during the six months. The total number of foreign visitors during this period shows an increase of 13 per cent, when compared to the same period in the previous year.

Other foreigners who visited Nepal were from South Asia and European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden etc.

“The number of foreign visitors in Nepal even during off season to be considered a good sign for the tourism industry,” said an official from Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

“The contribution of the private sector to the country’s tourism cannot be ignored,” he added.

As per the Economic Survey released earlier this year, in 2017 also Indians accounted for the maximum number of foreign visitors in the country with 17.1 per cent of the total tourist arrivals, ahead of Chinese (11.1 per cent) and Americans (8.44 per cent),

The birthplace of Lord Buddha – Lumbini, a UNESCO world heritage site, was the most visited tourist destination in Nepal during 2017