POKHARA, Aug 3: Almost 650,000 foreign tourists entered Nepal in the first seven months of 2025 (January–July). According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), 647,882 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal via air during this period. In July alone, 70,193 foreign tourists visited Nepal.
The NTB has estimated that the number of foreign tourists entering Nepal in 2025 will increase by up to 10 percent compared to 2024. In 2024, a total of 1,147,548 foreign tourists entered Nepal. If the NTB’s expectations are met, the number of tourists visiting Nepal in 2025 would increase by 114,000 compared to 2024. However, despite half the year already having passed, the number of foreign tourist arrivals has not increased much comparatively, according to the Board.
Maniraj Lamichhane, head of NTB's Pokhara office, said that a lack of promotion in international destinations and challenges in access to Nepal have led to less-than-encouraging tourist arrivals. Expensive airfare for travel to Nepal, ongoing wars in various countries, and some recent events within Nepal have also negatively affected tourist inflow, he said.
Arrival of tourists exceeds more than 500,000 in seven months o...
According to Lamichhane, the year 2019 recorded the highest number of tourist arrivals in Nepal. After that, the outbreak of COVID-19 severely impacted tourism, resulting in a sharp decline in visitor numbers. As the impact of COVID began to subside, tourism in Nepal started gaining momentum post-2024. Lamichhane stated that based on global recovery trends, it was estimated that tourist arrivals would grow by 6 to 8 percent annually in the post-COVID period. Accordingly, NTB anticipated a 10 percent increase in 2025 compared to 2024.
“There are still issues of access when it comes to Nepal’s tourism. It’s not easy for guests to arrive at the scale we had hoped,” Lamichhane said, “Expensive airfare is discouraging tourists from coming.” He further said that airfares to and from some countries are high, which has made it difficult to attract more tourists. Many who wish to come to Nepal are opting for other destinations due to the high cost of traveling here. Because Nepal has become an expensive destination, tourists are diverting to cheaper and closer alternatives, he added.
According to the NTB’s statistics, 79,991 foreign tourists visited Nepal in January. That number rose to 96,880 in February. In March, the figure climbed further to 121,687, while in April, 116,490 tourists entered the country. In May, Nepal welcomed 86,216 foreign tourists, followed by 76,425 in June. Finally, in July, 70,193 foreign visitors arrived.
NTB noted that tourist arrivals in July were slightly higher this year compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. According to Lamichhane, 64,598 foreign tourists had visited Nepal in July 2024. In contrast, July 2019 had recorded 70,916 tourist arrivals.
“This time, arrivals have increased compared to last year. It’s a positive sign for the tourism sector,” said Lamichhane, “There has been an improvement. Compared to last July, this July saw nearly a 9 percent increase in tourist arrivals.” However, arrivals still fall short compared to the highest-ever record in July 2019, when 70,916 foreign tourists had entered Nepal.
Indian tourists made up the largest share of foreign visitors in July. A total of 27,152 Indian tourists entered Nepal in that month alone. Of all foreign tourists arriving in July, Indians accounted for nearly 39 percent of the total.
Based on the number of arrivals, Chinese tourists ranked second, with 6,890 visitors—about 9 percent of the total. American tourists were third, numbering 6,626, also approximately 9 percent. Tourists from Bangladesh came in fourth, with 4,413 arrivals in July—over 6 percent of the total. According to tourism entrepreneurs, Bangladesh has increasingly become a popular market for Nepal, resulting in growing arrivals from the neighbouring country.
