KATHMANDU: More than 66,000 foreign tourists have entered Nepal in the first eight months of 2021.
As per the data provided by Nepal Tourism Board, 66,966 foreign tourists have visited Nepal from January to August. A total of 5,917 foreign tourists entered Nepal via air route in the month of August.
Similarly, 265 tourists had entered Nepal in the same period last year.
According to the official data, 94,749 tourists had visited Nepal in the month of August 2019 before the coronavirus infection was detected in the country. The tourism sector of the country has been mostly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The inflow of foreign tourists to the country is disappointing. NTB Spokesperson Mani Lamichhane, however, said that a scanty number of foreign tourists are visiting Nepal even during the present pandemic.
A total of 8,874 foreign tourists visited Nepal in January, 9,146 in February, 14,977 in March, 22,450 in April, 1,468 in May, 1,143 in June and 2,991 in July of 2021, Lamichhane added.