By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Sept. 27: In the first eight months of 2019, the country received 742,600 international tourists. The figure is higher by 9 per cent as compared to same period in 2018.
According to the Department of Immigration, 619,765 international visitors came by air and 122,835 came overland from January to August 2019.
Tourist arrivals from India in the first eight months of 2019 increased by 6.1 per cent in comparison to the figures of 2018 and reached 142,286, a press statement issued by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) on Thursday stated.
The overall arrivals from SAARC countries registered a growth of 6.2 per cent over the same period last year with 204,192 total tourist arrivals.
Likewise, 106,050 Chinese tourists visited Nepal in the first eight months of 2019, which is 9.8 per cent more than the arrivals in same period of 2018.
Similarly, the visitors from Thailand and Japan have also increased significantly by 38.9 per cent and 12.8 per cent respectively in comparison to the figures of 2018.
The European arrivals have also surged with sustained growths from the key markets with 136,198 total arrivals in the first eight months of 2019. Arrivals from the United Kingdom, Germany and France reached 36,972, 20,362 and 16,324 respectively.
Total number of the US visitors to Nepal in the first eight months of 2019 was 58,621, an increase by 6 per cent over the figures of last year. Likewise, the number of Australians visitors to Nepal in eight months reached 20,819, which is higher by 8.1 per cent compared to same period in 2018.
Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO of Nepal Tourism Board, remarked that the growth in the arrivals of international tourists is possible only because of the synergy in our efforts along with active participation of private sector and media. "However, suspension of Jet Airways and TIA closure for a few hours for rehabilitation process has somehow affected the expected growth rate of international arrivals," he added.