Kathmandu- The tourism sector of Nepal witnessed encouraging growth in international visitor arrivals to Nepal in 2024. The growth continued throughout the year and the annual arrival figures have reached well above the one million mark.  According to the preliminary data received from Department of Immigration 1,147,567 visitors visited Nepal in 2024, a cumulative increase of 13.1 percent over the same period in 2023. 

The overall arrivals from SAARC countries experienced solid growth, increasing by 5.9 percent compared to the previous year, with a total of 417,845 visitors. Among these, arrivals from Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka showed significant positive growth of 33.9 percent, 42 percent, and 38.3 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, visitor arrivals from India, which totaled 317,772, saw a slight decline of 0.7 percent compared to 2023.

Likewise, 101,879 Chinese visitors visited Nepal in 2024, which is significantly 67.3  percent more than the arrivals in 2023. Similarly, the visitors from Thailand, Japan and South Korea have also increased significantly by 19.7 percent , 38 percent and 14 percent respectively in comparison to the figures of 2023.  

The European arrivals have also surged with healthy growths from the key markets. Arrivals from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands were 57,554, 29,801, 25,126, 14,474, 13,968, and 11,393 respectively with growth of.  8.9 percent, 10.5 pet cent, 8.5 percent, 11.8 percent, 12.7 pet and 6.3 percent respectively. The total European arrivals in 2024 reached 206,841 with regional aggregated growth of 10.4 percent 

Total number of the US visitors to Nepal in 2024 was 111,216, an increase of 10.8 pet cent over the figures of 2023. Likewise, the number of Canadian visitors to Nepal in 2024 was 16,074, which is 9.4 percent more than in 2023. In Oceania, both Australia and New Zealand registered robust arrival figures of 43,980 and 4,231 respectively with growth of 13.4 percent and 18.4 percent respectively.

Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO of the Nepal Tourism Board, highlighted that the remarkable growth in international visitor arrivals has been made possible through the synergy of collective efforts and the spirit of partnership fostered from the very beginning. He noted that the tourism sector has achieved a 96 percent recovery of pre-pandemic visitor levels, despite the pandemic being the most significant crisis in the industry’s history.

Joshi emphasized that collaboration with the travel trade sector and media is the key to elevating Nepal’s tourism to new heights. He added that Nepal’s image as one of the most preferred tourist destinations has been further strengthened, as evidenced by the robust growth in visitor arrivals. This achievement reflects the combined efforts of the Government of Nepal, Nepal Tourism Board, the travel trade sector, and media in promoting Nepal on the global tourism stage.