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Kathmandu,Friday May 05, 2000 Baishakh 23, 2057.
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Tourist arrival via air dips by
7.09 pc in first quarter
By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, May 4 - Total tourist arrival via air in
the first quarter of 2000 declined by 7.09 percent compared to the corresponding period of
the last fiscal year.
According to Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA)
Immigration Office and Nepal Tourism Board, the number of tourist arrival via air in the
first quarter of 2000 reached to 120 thousand 9 hundred and 51. The figure was 130
thousand 1 hundred and 75 during the fist quarter of last year.
The quarterly figure however marks an improvement
over the first three months’ figure. Tourist arrival during the first three months of
2000 had declined by 11.44 percent.
Though the total number of tourist arrival has
declined in the review period, the number of air tourists coming from countries other than
India increased by 5 percent. Compared to 92,914 number of tourists last year, this
category increased to 97,556 this year.
During the review period, Japanese tourists stood
first in terms of number. A total of 12,757 Japanese tourists visited Nepal during the
period. United States with 12,549 air tourists stood second and Britain with 11,825 stood
third. Other major countries to send tourists to Nepal are: Germany (7,964), France
(7,285), Australia ( 3,895), the Netherlands (3,588), Canada (2,825) and Italy (2,454).
Despite the modest growth in air tourist arrival
from country other than India, total air tourist arrival growth has gone negative due to
decline in Indian air tourist arrival by 37.21 percent. Only 23,395 Indian tourists
visited Nepal in the first four months of 2000 compared to 37,261 Indian air tourists
arrival during the corresponding period last year.
The suspension of Indian Airlines, which followed
the hijacking of IC 814 airplane that flew from Kathmandu on December 24, has resulted in
a heavy decline in the flow of Indian tourists to Nepal, which comprises one-third of the
total tourists flow to the country.
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