Kathmandu - Nepal's tourism industry recorded strong growth
in 2008, making it the most successful year for the industry in eight
years, tourism officials said Friday.
The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said preliminary figures for the
year showed total tourist arrivals for 2008 were around 550,000, but
added that full report was still being prepared.
'The total number of tourists arriving by air in 2008 was 4 per
cent higher than in 2007,' the NTB said. '374,661 visitors arrived in
Nepal through Kathmandu airport, the highest since 2000.'
Tourism authorities said the figure does not include those
arriving in Nepal overland from Tibet and India.
Authorities, however, said preliminary data showed the number of
tourists arriving in the country through its borders with Tibet and
India was expected to be more than 150,000, pushing the total arrival
figures to over half a million visitors.
2008 was the second successive year that the country has recorded
high tourist growth, and came despite fears of a slowdown due to the
global financial crisis.
'Against the continuing global financial crisis since August, the
overall 4-per-cent growth in international tourist arrivals in 2008
can be considered as a healthy increment,' the NTB said.
The board said tourist arrivals were pushed up by strong growth of
visitors from Europe, South Asia and the Americas.
'European countries such as the UK, Germany, the Netherlands,
Belgium and Sweden have maintained the increasing trend,' the NTB
said. 'Total arrivals in 2008 from the United States of America,
Australia, Canada and New Zealand have also increased.'
December figures, however, showed a slight fall in arrivals from
Europe and the Americas, possibly due to the economic slowdown.
The tourism industry is one of Nepal's biggest foreign exchange
earners, bringing in millions of dollars to the impoverished country
and providing employment to hundreds of thousands of people.
However, the industry suffered considerably during the communist
insurgency leading to the closure of hundreds of hotels and
tourism-related businesses.
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