Spending of foreign tourists who had arrived in Nepal escalated by nearly 41.9% in the initial 11 months of the current fiscal year.
The foreign visitor arrivals continued to rise after the economic blockade was lifted by India in February 2016. Thereafter, things started returning to a normal scenario after the disastrous earthquakes of April and May 2015. The foreign travellers heading to Nepal had splurged about Rs. 55.2 billion in this 11-month period between mid-July and mid-June against the Rs. 38.9 billion in the same period a year ago, as per the latest report of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank.
The tourism sector of Nepal rose with the inflow of foreign tourists as mentioned by the tourism experts, even though the official data about tourist arrivals are not available at present.
However, the tourism bosses of this country estimate that as much as 800,000 foreign tourists would be visiting the nation in 2017, as per the World Travel and Tourism Council. The income made by the tourism sector enabled the nation to maintain services trade surplus of Rs. 6 billion in the 11-month period.
Nepalis who had made trips to foreign lands had spent about Rs. 72.9 billion in the initial 11 months of the current fiscal year, marking a rise of about 44% than in the same period last year, as indicated by the NRB report.
This money was actually spent by army personnel who participate in the United Nation’s peace operations, people seeking employment and healthcare services, students pursuing their studies, Nepali overseas tourists and entrepreneurs, officials rendering services for state agencies and so on.
Nepal had spent Rs. 41.4 billion to cover foreign transport costs in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year marking a rise of 3.5% than in the same period a year ago.
The travel and tourism sector of Nepal is believed to have pooled in Rs. 177 billion into the economy. In fact, it was responsible for the creation of 427,000 jobs in 2016, as per the World Travel and Tourism Council.
