KATHMANDU, July 1: Around 250,000 tourists visited Nepal in the first six months of 2012 via air. This is a growth of 19.8 percent compared to a year ago.
Figures provided by the Immigration Office at the Tribhuvan International Airport showed tourist arrivals in the month of June, 2012 was 43,238 -- this is an increased by 16.2 percent compared to the same month last year.
According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), all regions except Oceania have shown positive growth in the sixth month of 2012. In aggregate, the South Asian segment registered a positive growth of 12.2 percent.
Figures show 23,325 Indians visited the country by June, a growth of 12.2 percent compared to the first six months of 2011. Likewise, arrivals from Pakistan have increased by 36.5 percent. However, arrivals from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have declined by 3.7 percent and 14.4 percent respectively compared to the figures of the first six months last year.
Chinese tourist increased by 61 percent, a highest growth in the entire segment. The total number of Chinese visitors was at 2,777. Arrivals from Asia, other than South Asia recorded positive growth of 45.8 percent in aggregate. Statistics show arrivals from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand increased by 26.9 percent, 56.3 percent, 63.6 percent and 67.1 percent respectively.
Likewise, an overall positive growth of 3.7 was observed in June with total arrivals from Europe recorded at 4,497. Tourist arrivals from Australia, Canada and USA increased by 3.7 percent, 73.4 percent and 12.4 percent compared to same period a year ago.
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