As Bangladesh and Nepal are separated by the "Siliguri Corridor", the number of Bangladesh tourists to Nepal will easily cross one lakh, provided India allows transit to Bangladeshi tourists through the chicken neck, said members of Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) and Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB).

The two nations are separated by the "Siliguri Corridor" - a 22 kilometres (14 mi) wide stretch of territory of the Indian state of West Bengal that lies between southern Nepal and northern Bangladesh.

With Bangladesh’s economy showed sustained growth during last 25 years, Nepal is targeting Bangladeshi tourists, sources said.  

In 2022, over 25,000 Bangladeshi tourists visited Nepal, which is close to the pre-pandemic level. In 2023, a total of 36,483 Bangladeshis visited Nepal (28,362 men and 8113 women).

Meanwhile, 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.

Meanwhile, over 720,000 tourists have entered Nepal in the first eight months of the year 2024.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB)’s data, 720,334 tourists had visited Nepal in the eight months from January to August of 2024.

The arrival of foreign tourists has increased by 8.3 percent, the NTB sources informed.

A total of 5,566 more tourists visited Nepal in August this year compared to the same reporting period last year. A total of 67,153 tourists had visited Nepal last year while it was 72,719 in August 2024.

NTB Director Maniraj Lamichhane said the number of foreign tourists has been increasing in recent days. He expressed the belief that a significant number of tourists would come from other countries including neighbouring countries in the coming days as a result of tourism promotion programmes.

According to the board data, the highest number of 25,832 tourists came from India, 6,614 from China, 5,614 from the US, 4,851 from Sri Lanka and 3,077 from Bangladesh in August this year.

A total of 41,304 foreign tourists had visited Nepal in August 2022, 6,093 in the same period in 2021 and 94,749 in August 2019. The highest number of 111,376 had tourists visited Nepal in March, while July received the lowest number of 64,599 tourists.

A total of 79,100 tourists had visited Nepal in January; 97,426 in February; 111,03,076 in April; 90,211 in May, 76,736 in June and 72,719 in August.

Foreign tourist arrivals have continuously increased after the COVID pandemic. A total of 1,014,885 tourists visited Nepal in 2023.

The government has set a target of attracting 1.6 million foreign tourists in the current fiscal year’s budget.

The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has set a target of attracting 1.6 million tourists in the current fiscal year by implementing the Tourism Strategy Plan (2016-25) and the Visit Nepal Decade. The Department of Tourism is also constructing infrastructure by identifying 100 tourist destinations. (RSS)

According to Mani Raj Lamichhane, head of the Research, Planning and Monitoring Department at the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), this is an almost 97 per cent recovery to the pre-pandemic levels, according to the Rising Nepal.

To revitalise the tourism sector of the country, the government announced in its budget for the Fiscal Year 2023/24 that it would celebrate the 10 years from 2023 to 2033 as the tourism decade and shared its intention to bring 1 million tourists into the country in 2023, according to the Rising Nepal.

The latter is in line with the target unveiled by the NTB last year and one that it has since maintained is possible by attracting visitors from Asia.

In July 2023, 50 per cent of the total tourists came from SAARC countries. Among them, 21,357 were from India, 26,096 from Bangladesh, 807 from Bhutan, 484 from Sri Lanka, and 372 from Pakistan.

Apart from China, South Korea had 13,075 visitors from Asian countries. Among European countries, the largest number of tourists, 3,630, came from the United Kingdom. There were 1,102 visitors from Australia, and 653 from Canada.

Nepal has set a target to attract 1.00 million tourists in 2023. The figures of tourist arrivals for the first 7 months show that achieving this target is quite challenging. To meet the government’s goal, more than 100,000 tourists need to arrive each month from now on.

Apart from China, South Korea had 13,075 visitors from Asian countries. Among European countries, the largest number of tourists, 3,630, came from the United Kingdom. There were 1,102 visitors from Australia, and 653 from Canada. Total number of international tourists visited Nepal in 2023 is 6,01,360.

The Total number of international Tourists visited Nepal in each month of 2023 are listed as below:

A total of 67,153 international tourists visited Nepal in August, 2023. Among them, 26,665 from India, 5,027 from China, 4,629 from United States, 3,858 from Sri Lanka ,  3,190 from Bangladesh, 2,711 from the UK, 1,588 from Spain, 1520 from Japan, 1,496 from Italy,  1,347 from Australia and so on.

In the last seven months, a total of 534,207 tourists arrived.

In the last seven months in Nepal, 534,207 tourists arrived. Among them, 57,726 tourists arrived in July 2023. This is the total number of tourists who visited Nepal from January to July. It indicates a gradual recovery in tourist arrivals from the impact of COVID-19.

According to the data from the Director of the tourism board, in July 2019, there were 58,811 tourists who visited Nepal. The years following that were affected by the negative impact of COVID-19.

As per tourism entrepreneurs, Chinese tourists, along with sightseeing, are also interested in adventure and outdoor activities. Hence, they consider Nepal as an “Alps-like” destination.

Meanwhile, Nepal Ambassador to Bangladesh Ghanshyam Bhandari in an interview with The Business Standard said “ The two countries offer unique and diverse tourist products that can complement each other. In 2022, over 25,000 Bangladeshi tourists visited Nepal, which is close to the pre-pandemic level. However, considering the number of outbound tourists from Bangladesh, this figure remains relatively low.  To fully capitalise on the opportunities, we need to promote tourism circuits and build stronger linkages between our touristic destinations. Facilitating smooth and hassle-free travel between our countries through enhanced air and land connectivity will be critical. We can also explore opportunities for collaboration in adventure tourism, medical tourism, and eco-tourism projects. We stand ready to share our experiences with Bangladesh in this regard.”

According to data released by the Nepal Tourism Board, a total of 57,726 tourists came to Nepal in July 2023. Out of that only 21 thousand 357 Indians have come. In second place are Chinese citizens. Their number is 5 thousand 593 people. According to the board, the number of American tourists is 5,561.

Among other Asian countries, 1,375 tourists came from South Korea after China. Most of the European countries, 3,630 British tourists have come to Nepal. According to the data, 1 thousand 102 Tourists came to Nepal from Australia and 653 people came from Canada.

As per tourism entrepreneurs, Chinese tourists, along with sightseeing, are also interested in adventure and outdoor activities. Hence, they consider Nepal as an “Alps-like” destination.