Nepal Welcomes 1,209,357 Foreign Tourists in FY 2082/83
Nepal recorded the arrival of 1,209,357 foreign tourists during FY 2082/83, reflecting continued recovery and growth in the country's tourism sector. According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), India remained Nepal's largest source market, followed by the United States and China.
NTB data shows that 311,531 Indian tourists visited Nepal during the fiscal year, accounting for approximately 25.76 percent of total international arrivals. The United States ranked as the second-largest source market with 111,325 visitors, while China secured the third position with 109,892 arrivals.
Other major source markets included Bangladesh (58,163), the United Kingdom (56,649), Australia (53,195), Sri Lanka (43,211), Bhutan (36,289), Myanmar (30,737), Germany (29,296), Thailand (27,201), Japan (25,762) and Malaysia (25,640).
The monthly arrival figures indicate that Kartik recorded the highest number of international visitors, with 124,829 arrivals. It was followed by Chaitra with 119,390 tourists, Falgun with 114,152, and Ashwin with 111,780 arrivals.
To strengthen tourism growth, the Nepal Tourism Board intensified promotional activities in its key neighbouring markets, particularly India and China. During FY 2025/26, the board organised more than 12 promotional programmes across major Indian cities, including Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi. Overall, NTB conducted more than 40 international tourism promotion programmes in overseas markets throughout the year.
In the final three months of the fiscal year, NTB also organised a series of cross-border tourism marts and fairs across Nepal's southern border region, stretching from Jhapa in the east to Kanchanpur in the west. The initiative aimed to safeguard tourism infrastructure investments in the Tarai region and boost cross-border travel. According to the board, these efforts contributed to a notable increase in the number of tourists entering Nepal through border points.
Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Nepal Tourism Board, Hikmat Singh Ayer, said the positive growth in tourist arrivals was driven by enhanced international marketing, improved air connectivity and stronger collaboration with the private sector.
"The tourist arrival figures for FY 2025/26 clearly indicate that Nepal's tourism industry is moving beyond recovery towards sustainable growth," Ayer said. "Alongside strengthening our presence in established source markets, we will continue to implement targeted promotional campaigns in emerging high-potential markets to position Nepal as a year-round destination."
He noted that while China represents a market with enormous tourism potential, Nepal needs to make its promotional campaigns and business-to-business (B2B) engagement more effective. He emphasised the importance of expanding international sales missions in China as well as other high-potential markets such as the United States, Australia and Bangladesh.
Ayer added that the Nepal Tourism Board is working to expand such programmes in partnership with the private sector under the budget for FY 2026/27 (2083/84) to achieve more result-oriented tourism promotion.
Referring to the Government of Nepal's declaration of Wellness Tourism Year 2027, Air expressed confidence that international tourist arrivals would continue to rise during the current fiscal year.
Nepal Tourism Board said it will focus on attracting high-spending visitors, increasing the average length of stay and strengthening Nepal's tourism promotion in both traditional and emerging international markets.
