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Kathmandu Sunday February 03, 2002 Magh 21, 2058.
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2002 begins with bad note for
tourism
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Feb 2: Despite an attempt of the
government to revive the ailing tourism industry through the announcement of some
comprehensive tourism promotion packages, the tourist inflow figures during the first
month of 2002 shows a sharp decline as compared to the arrival in the same month last
year.
According to statistics compiled by the Nepal
Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 13,576 foreigners came into Nepal via air in January 2002,
which is 47.59 per cent lower than that of the arrival in the same month last year. The
arrivals then had stood at 25,905.
Out of the total decline, a huge drop of 53.62
per cent was recorded on the tourists visiting from countries other than India. During the
month Indian tourist inflow plunged by 24.1 per cent squeezing from 5294 in January 2001
to 4017 in January 2002.
In the latter days of the last year the
government had announced to celebrate three- mega events in 2002 with high hopes of
reviving the tourism sector: Destination Nepal Year, International Year of Mountains and
Eco-tourism Year. Also, the government had slashed visa fees, permitted trekking in
restricted areas of six districts, and opened 103 peaks for mountaineering.
According to the latest data, the industry
observed a sharp decline in the incoming visitors from Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan
and USA while Sri Lanka remained the only country to show an increase in the number of
tourists into this kingdom.
Of the total tourist arrival, the component of
the Indian tourists remained at 29.59 per cent while the British tourists stood at second
position with 8.56 per cent. During the month, other major tourist generating countries
were USA, Japan and Taiwan.
Issuing a press release the NTB has stated,
"Though Nepal has always remained a safe destination for tourists, the current false
perception of travel safety in Nepal has caused this sharp decline. With the easing out of
travel advisory by US State Department recently and the successful conclusion of 11th
SAARC Summit will greatly contribute towards boosting the destination image of Nepal in
the immediate future and in the long run." The number of incoming tourist had
declined by 20.7 per cent in 2001 compared to the previous year that fell from 376,503 to
298,456. Indian tourist inflow then had declined by 33 per cent while the plunge in the
figures other than the Indians was 16.5 per cent.
The tourist inflow into this country has been
continuously declining since the royal incident of June 1st. National and the
international events further added to the woes of the already ailing sector.
However, tourism entrepreneurs are upbeat with
the US statement that portrayed Nepal as a safe tourist destination. Also, with the latest
assertion from Reinhold Messner, a German mountaineer who first conquered all 14 peaks
above 8,000 meters, that Nepal is a safe place for tourists, the Nepali tourism industry
can hope some better days ahead.
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