Lamjung, January 2: 30,866 foreign tourists visited the Annapurna World Cycle Trail in 2024. Among the tourists who visited this trail, which ranks 10th in the world, in a year, there were 18,499 men, 12,362 women and five others. According to Bhupendra Gurung, in-charge of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) Tourist Check-in and Information Center, Dharapani, 1,567 men and 287 women from SAARC countries had visited the site. Similarly, 16,932 men, 12,75 women and five other foreign tourists from other countries had visited. The center’s in-charge said that the majority of the tourists came from countries including France, Israel, Germany, and the UK.
The number of tourists in this region, which has been hit hard by the Corona pandemic, has been increasing year by year for a few years. In 2024, 9,619 more foreign tourists came compared to 2023. In 2023, 21,247 foreign tourists came. Of these, 12,981 are men and 8,266 are women, according to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) Tourist Check and Information Center Dharapani. According to Gurung, in-charge of this center, citizens of 122 countries came to this trekking route in 2023.
Similarly, 15,900 foreign tourists visited Nepal in 2022. Of these, 10,364 were male and 5,536 were female, according to the center. Compared to 2022, 5,347 more foreign tourists visited Nepal in 2023. The highest number of tourists in 2022 was 2,120 from France. According to the center, 13,627 more tourists visited Nepal in 2022 than in 2021. In 2021, 2,273 tourists, including 1,562 males and 711 females, visited Nepal.
Similarly, 1,976 tourists visited in 2020. According to the center, 36,647 tourists visited the trail in 2019, 29,484 tourists in 2018, and 21,068 tourists in 2017. While tourist arrivals have been increasing since 2017, the trail area was affected in 2020 due to the corona infection. The entrance to the Annapurna Trail is Manange Chautara, Besishahar Municipality-7, Lamjung. This trail connects Lamjung, Manang, Kaski, Mustang, and Myagdi districts. Tourists come to the Annapurna Trail to see the Himalayan, mountain views, high mountains, the customs of the Manang people, and natural beauty, as well as to go from Manang to Pokhara via Thumra Pass via Mustang.
Tourists also come here to climb various mountains in Manang and to see the world’s highest lake, Tilicho Lake. The influx of tourists on this trekking route has led to a boom in hotel business here.
Last year, 1.15 million tourists entered Nepal
1.15 million foreign tourists visited Nepal in 2024. According to the statistics of the Nepal Tourism Board, 1.147 million tourists visited Nepal from January to December last year.
According to the board’s director, Marinraj Lamichhane, tourist arrivals have increased by more than 14 percent in 2024 compared to 2023. In 2023, 1,14,871 foreign tourists visited Nepal. The board had estimated that more tourists would visit Nepal in 2024 than in 2019 before the Corona pandemic. In 2019, 1,197,191 foreign tourists visited Nepal.
This figure of foreign tourist arrivals has brought the country’s tourism sector back to normal after a three-year slump due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tourist arrivals fell sharply from 2020 to 2022. The aforementioned figures indicate that Nepal’s tourism recovery is higher than that of the Asia-Pacific region, said Lamichhane, director of the board. According to the six-month figures of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Nepal’s tourism has recovered by 96 percent globally. It is stated that 93 percent of global tourism has recovered during that period.
According to Director Lamichhane, the improvement in tourist arrivals is due to the board’s accelerated marketing and the Nepal Premier League (NPL) project, which was organized for the first time in Nepal, more than 800 chartered flights during the Buddhist Conference, the International Balloon Festival, the Chinese Dragon Festival, as well as national and international tourism festivals, fairs and exhibitions. The board has mentioned that the board has prioritized regional tourism promotion to increase foreign tourist arrivals.
How many tourists in which month?Â
The highest number of tourists, 128,167, visited Nepal in March, while the lowest number, 64,599, visited Nepal in July. In October, 124,393, and in April, 111,376 tourists visited Nepal. In December, 89,765, in November, 114,511, in September, 96,355, in January, 79,100, in February, 97,426, in May, 90,211, in June, 76,736, and in August, 72,719 tourists visited Nepal.
