Tourist arrivals for January witnessed a sharp slump compared to the same month of 2012. According to the figures released by the Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the tourist arrivals reached 35,330 with a 15.9 per cent decline in January this year compared to the same month last year.

According to the official press statement issued by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), major source markets have recorded negative growths in tourist arrivals in the first month of 2013. “In the SAARC region, only Pakistan has recorded a positive growth of 5.8 per cent. India which constitutes the major market of Nepal, has recorded a negative growth of 26.1 per cent. Arrivals from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have also registered negative a growth by 62.6 per cent and 42.6 per cent respectively,” reads the statement.

Tourist arrivals from other Asian countries have also registered a negative growth of 16.4 per cent on average. According to NTB, tourist arrivals from China have decreased by a whopping 40.3 per cent whereas the arrivals from Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea have increased by 16.8, 10.3, 4.3, 42.6 and 11.2 per cent respectively.

An overall negative growth of 15 per cent has been observed from the European market while tourist arrivals from Australia, New Zealand and the USA have registered growths of 27.3, 25, and 13 per cent respectively. A negative growth of 27.4 per cent has been recorded from Canada in January 2013 compared to January 2012, says the press release.

A total of 45,667 foreign tourists departed from TIA in January 2013. The number of Nepali arrivals stood at 69,442 while 91,281 Nepalis departed from TIA in January 2013.