The figures released by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) reveal that visitor arrivals in the month of August 2009, compared to the same month last year, have increased by 5% to 27,676.
 
In August this year, there has been a robust growth of 87% in tourist arrivals from China. Similarly, the arrivals from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand have also increased by 27%, 44%, 21% and 9% respectively.  The Asian markets to decline in this month were Malaysia (13%) and Chinese Taipei (21%). In aggregate the Asian segment has registered a positive growth of 26%.
 
In the SAARC region, arrivals from Bangladesh and Pakistan have witnessed positive growth of 23% and 22% respectively. However the arrivals from India have decreased by 10% compared to the same month last year. Sri Lanka also witnessed a negative growth of 1% this month.

An overall positive growth of 11% has been observed from the European markets with arrivals from France up by 9% , Germany by 34%, The Netherlands by 20%, Spain by 9% and Denmark by 50%. The only market to decline in this month was the UK by 24%.
 
 Tourist arrivals from New Zealand and Canada have also registered robust growth of 22% and 88% respectively. The arrivals from United States of America remained stable whereas the Australian market declined by 4 % compared to the same month last year.
 
This is the third consecutive month Nepal has witnessed positive growth in the international tourist arrivals. Recovery in the arrivals to Nepal in the beginning of second half of 2009 is in line with the marginal improvement observed in some of the economies. Moreover, it also reflects the rebounding confidence of the international tour operators and the resilient nature of tourism economy.
 
A total of 33,685 foreign tourists departed from TIA in August 2009 up by 20% compared to the same month last year. The number of Nepalese arrivals stood at 46,852 while 51,653 Nepalese departed from TIA in August 2009.