Nepal records more Indian tourists during the first half of 2023
According to government statistics released on Sunday, about 1,68,000 Indian tourists flew into Nepal during the first half of 2023, a considerable rise from the 97,313 travelers who arrived during the same time last year. The Himalayan country of Nepal welcomed 4,76,481 international visitors by flight in the first half of 2023, according to the Nepal Tourism Board. When compared to 2019, the year before the epidemic, this represented a strong recovery of 83%. 2019 (the pre-Covid era) saw 5,36,058 visitors arrive in Nepal via flight.
In comparison to the same time in 2019, there were 16.93% fewer visitors traveling to Nepal in the first half of 2023. According to a press statement from the board, there were 167,605 Indian tourists to Nepal during the first half of 2023, a considerable rise from the 97,313 Indian visitors during the same time in the previous year.
A total of 1,53,602 international tourists arrived in Nepal in May, of which 36,575 were Indians. When compared to the same month last year, Nepal saw a general decline in the number of foreign visitors. However, compared to the same month last year, there were more Indian visitors in June this year. The COVID-19 epidemic, which started to spread near the end of 2019, had a negative impact on Nepal’s tourism business and decreased the amount of visitors traveling there.
The number of visitors fell to 220,815 in the first six months of 2020, 58,058 in 2021, and 240,901 in 2022 before increasing again. As Nepal began to recover from the Covid epidemic, the number of Indian tourists traveling to Nepal in June was promising, according to Sharmila Kafle, Managing Director of Apoorva Tours & Travel, one of the main travel companies that cater to visitors from India. She said that Indians also go to Janakpur, Lumbini, Muktinath, and other locations in Nepal. “In the past, Indians mainly used to visit Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, but now a variety of tourists from India with diverse interests are coming to Nepal,” she said. They are also traveling to Pokhara and Chitawan in addition to Kathmandu. She also mentioned an increase in Indian adventure travelers.
They intend to ascend Mount Everest. She said that Nepal has also developed into a center for Indian filmmakers. According to her, Nepal was the location for the Indian movie “Unchai,” which was filmed there last year and was directed by Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan. She continued, pointing out that one of the main reasons for the rise in Indian visitors is that Nepal’s climate is significantly milder than India’s.
