Tourists arrival sees a surge of 13.1% in 2024

A total of 1,147,567 tourists visited the country this 2024 — 132,685 more tourists than the last year and the highest number of arrivals since the pandemic. This translates into approx 3,000 tourists arriving in the country on a daily basis. 

Last year, 1,014,882 tourists visited the country, which marks an increment by 13.1% in 2024. 

Before the pandemic brought tourism to a halt in early 2020, Nepal welcomed 1.197 million visitors in 2019.

However, this December, 92,034 tourists arrived in the country compared to last year’s 96,574 — a fall by 4.7%. 

Top 10 source countries in 2024 and growth rates

Visitor arrivals from SAARC countries saw strong growth, rising by 5.9% with a total of 417,845 arrivals, barring India.

Meanwhile, arrivals from Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka showed growth of 33.9%, 42%, and 38.3% respectively. 

The visitors from Thailand, Japan and South Korea also increased significantly by 19.7%, 38 % and 14% respectively.  

The European arrivals have also had sound growth from key markets. The United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands recorded visitors at 57,554, 29,801, 25,126, 14,474, 13,968, and 11,393 respectively with growth of 8.9%, 10.5%, 8.5%, 11.8%, 12.7% and 6.3% respectively. 

The total European arrivals was 206,841 with aggregate growth of 10.4%.

Likewise, the number of Canadian visitors to Nepal in 2024 was 16,074 — 9.4% more than in 2023. 

In Oceania, both Australia and New Zealand registered robust arrival figures of 43,980 and 4,231 respectively — a growth of 13.4% and 18.4% respectively.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board, the country organized several events this year — such as the Nepal Premier League, the Global Buddhist Summit, the International Balloon Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival, among other cultural celebrations — aiding in the country’s tourists arrival record.