Miscellaneous
The Kathmandu Post Trivia: Test your general knowledge!
Indians and Chinese, are the two nationalities that visit Nepal the most. The same pattern was repeated last year. Can you guess the third country that sent the most number of visitors in 2014?The Answer is United States of America. According to Nepal Tourism Statistics 2014, USA was the third country to send the most number of tourists to Nepal.
Top 5 countries 2013 | Top 5 Countries 2014 |
India | India |
P.R. of China | P.R of China |
U.S.A | U.S.A |
Thailand | Sri Lanka |
U.K. | U.K. |
The Post-Disaster Needs Assessment report in June had urged the government to announce 2017 and 2018 as Visit Nepal Year to assure visitors that reconstruction and rehabilitation will be completed by then. The comprehensive report recently prepared by the National Planning Commission has said that initially there is a need to re-build and re-brand the image of tourism, after the earthquake.
The report also stated that the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and the private sector have been spending a combined Rs2.20 billion annually on tourism marketing and promotion during normal times, the outlay has to be increased multiple fold to revive the market.
It is estimated that the overall impact to the Nepali tourism industry will be a reduction of about 40 percent over the next 12 months, and a 20 percent reduction in the following 12-24 months. Despite the overall estimated damage and losses, the tourism industry remains resilient and optimistic about executing a turnaround in the medium to the long term. The sector is poised to Build Back Better with concerted efforts from all the stakeholders and support from the government.
Here are a few facts about tourism in Nepal
- Hotels in the quake-affected areas suffered property losses in the amount of Rs16 billion. Domestic airlines reported revenue losses of about Rs400 million during the month following the earthquake
- The Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal has reported that 40,000 employees (guides, porters, cooks) engaged in the trekking sector combining all the major trekking destinations had no work between May to July and were sent home.
- In 2013, Nepal was ranked 30th among 184 countries. Among South Asian countries, India and Bangladesh ranked 2nd and 12th respectively.