Nepal welcomes one million tourists in 2023, highest in post-covid era

Kathmandu : Nepal welcomed 1 million tourists between January and December 2023, attributed to China's border reopening and record arrivals from India.

As per Nepal Tourism Board, the arrival numbers crossed the million mark on December 27, the first time in four years. However, this is the third time that Nepal has received over a million tourists, the previous two dating back to pre-covid era.

Arrivals crossed the coveted one-million mark for the first time in 2018, with 1.17 million foreign tourists streaming into the country. In 2019, the number rose slightly, to 1.19 million, following better flight connectivity with several Chinese cities. Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, bringing arrivals to a standstill.

Nepal welcomed 230,085 and 150,962 tourists in 2020 and 2021, respectively. In 2022, the foreign tourist numbers shot up to 614,869.