Friday, May 31, 2019
Nepal tourism grew at 3.9 per cent in 2018. It generated revenue of Nepalese rupee 240.7 billion or U.S. dollars 2.15 billion as per the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) annual research report. It supported over 1.05 million jobs directly and indirectly in 2018.
The country’s travel and tourism contribution is 7.9 per cent of its GDP last year, up from 3.6 per cent. The total contribution of Nepal’s travel and tourism sector to its GDP was Nepalese rupee 195 billion (U.S. dollars 1.74 billion).
Overall, Nepal’s travel and tourism sector grew at 3.9 percent, contributing record U.S. dollars 8.8 trillion and 319 million jobs to the world economy in 2018. This growth percentage is noteworthy as it is higher than the world gross domestic product growth rate, for the eight years in the row.
As per the report, domestic tourists contributed to 56 per cent of the total revenue of Nepalese rupee 240.7 billion generated by the tourism industry in 2018.
As per Nepal Tourism Board CEO Deepak Raj Joshi, the domestic tourists started touring Nepal after the 2015 earthquake and there is massive tourist movement.
In addition to the traditional leisure destinations such as Pokhara and Chitwan, the Annapurna Circuit trekking route has become a major attraction for domestic tourists, who throng to the destination in huge numbers.
Lumbini, the birthplace of the divine Gautam Buddha draws scores of Nepalis every year. In 2017, over 1.55 million tourists visited Lumbini out of which 1.25 million visitors were domestic ones. Another important attraction is Nepal’s biggest and deepest freshwater lake in Mugu.
There were 1 million foreign tourist visits to Nepal in 2018. The figure was largely attributed to a jump in arrivals from China, India, Sri Lanka, U.S., and U.K.
Friday, April 19, 2024
