Namche Bazaar, gateway to Mount Everest, under snow

Tourism is the largest industry in Nepal and its largest source of foreign exchange and revenue. Possessing eight of the ten highest mountains in the world, Nepal is a hot spot destination for mountaineers, rock climbers and people seeking adventure. The Hindu and Buddhist heritage of Nepal and its cool weather are also strong attractions.^[1]

Overview

Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak in the world (8848.88m above the sea level), is located in Nepal. Mountaineering and other types of adventure tourism and ecotourism are important attractions for visitors. The World Heritage Site Lumbini, birthplace of Buddha, is located in the south of the West region of Nepal (which despite the name is located in the center of the country) and there are other important religious pilgrimage sites throughout the country. The tourist industry is seen as a way to alleviate poverty and achieve greater social equity in the country. Tourism brings $471 million a year to Nepal.^[2]

World Peace Pagoda in Lumbini

According to statistics of 2019, there was a growth rate of 2.1%. According to statistics from Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 1,197,191 foreign tourists entered the country in 2019 as compared to 1,173,072 in 2018. The government of Nepal declared 2011 to be Nepal Tourism Year, and hoped to attract one million foreign tourists to the country during that year.^[3] The government of Nepal has also declared Lumbini Tourism Year 2012 to promote Lumbini. The government of Nepal has also recently declared Visit Nepal 2020 with the aim of bringing in two million tourists by 2020.

According to the statistics of 2017, most of the tourists comes to Nepal for observing the pilgrimage sites and heritages sites of the country i.e. 70.3%, then 34.5% visit for pleasure, 13.1% of them visit Nepal for mountaineering and trekking and remaining 18.0% of the tourists arrive for official activities, conferences, business etc.

The tourism industry of Nepal was affected after the destructive earthquake in 2015, by the series of earthquakes in 2015. In 2020, the tourism sector in Nepal collapsed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4]

Religious sites

Janaki Mandir in Janakpur, the temple where the Hindu goddess Sita married Lord Rama in Nepal.

The majority religion in Nepal is Hinduism, and the Pashupatinath Temple, the world's largest temple of Shiva, located in Kathmandu, attracts many pilgrims and tourists. Other Hindu pilgrimage sites include the temple complex in Swargadwari in the Pyuthan district; Janaki Mandir in Janakpurdham in Mithila region; Lake Gosainkunda near Dhunche; the temples at Devghat; Kalinchowk Bhagwati Temple in Dolakha ;Manakamana temple in the Gorkha District; Pathibhara near Phungling; and Mahamrityunjaya Shivasan Nepal in Palpa District where the biggest metallic idol of Lord Shiva is located.

Buddhism is the largest minority religion. The World Heritage Site at Lumbini, which is traditionally considered to be the birthplace of Gautama Buddha, is an important pilgrimage site. Another prominent Buddhist site is Swayambhunath, the Monkey Temple, in Kathmandu.

Ambikeshwari Temple is a Shaktipeetha which is supposed to have emerged due to the falling of right ear of Satidevi according to the Swasthani Purana.

Dang valley is a sacred place for Hindus as well as other religions. Kalika and Malika Devi in Chhillikot hill, Ambekeshawori temple, Krishna temple, Dharapani temple are among the sacred places in Dang district. Chillikot hill is also a good place for sightseeing and also an ancient palace of a king.

Muktinath is a sacred place for Hindus as well as Buddhists. The site is located in Muktinath Valley, Mustang district.

Badimalika temple in Bajura District, Gadhimai Temple in Bara district, Halesi-Maratika Caves in Khotang. Bhageshwori Mandir in Nepalgunj.

Side view of the Bhageshwori Mandir

Bhagwati Temple in Rajbiraj are also some popular temples in Nepal.

Wilderness tourism

Paragliding on Pokhara

Rafting at Bhotekoshi River

Hot air ballooning over the mountains of Himalayas, Nepal

According to Nepal's Ministry of Tourism, major tourist activities include wilderness and adventure activities such as mountain biking, bungee jumping, rock climbing and mountain climbing, trekking, hiking, bird watching, flights, paragliding and hot air ballooning over the mountains of Himalaya, exploring the waterways by raft, kayak or canoe and jungle safaris especially in the Terai region.^[5] International elephant polo is played at Chitwan National Park.

Statistics

Tourists at Jomsom

Tourists trekking in Annapurna region in western Nepal. Tourism plays a vital role in Nepal's economy.

In 2007, the number of international tourists visiting Nepal was 526,705, which was an increase of 37.2% compared to the previous year. In 2008, the number of tourists decreased by 5% to 500,277. In 2018, the number of international tourists arrival was 1.17 million. In 2019, the number increased to 1.19 million. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on tourism in Nepal, with tourist arrivals dropping to just 230,085 with a decrease of over 80.7% and further decrease by 30% in 2021 with a total number of 150,962. Pokhara is one of the main tourist destinations in Nepal.

In 2008, 55.9% of the foreign visitors came from Asia (18.2% from India), while Western Europeans accounted for 27.5%, 7.6% were from North America, 3.2% from Australia and the Pacific Region, 2.6% from Eastern Europe, 1.5% from Central and South America, 0.3% from Africa and 1.4% from other countries.

Foreign tourists visiting Nepal in 2008 stayed in the country for an average of 11.78 days which has now increased to 15.1 days and 15.5 days in 2020 and 2021 respectively^[6][7][8]

Arrivals by country

Most tourists arriving to Nepal on short-term basis were from the following countries of nationality:^{[12][13][14][15]}

Rank	Country	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012
1	India	254,150	194,323	160,832	118,249	75,124	135,343	180,974
2	China	169,543	153,633	104,664	104,005	66,984	123,805	113,173
3	United States	93,218	91,895	79,146	53,645	42,687	49,830	47,355
4	United Kingdom	61,144	63,466	51,058	46,295	29,730	36,759	35,688
5	Sri Lanka	55,869	69,490	45,361	57,521	44,367	37,546	32,736
6	Thailand	41,653	52,429	39,154	26,722	32,338	33,422	40,969
7	South Korea	29,680	37,218	34,301	25,171	18,112	23,205	19,714
8	Australia	38,972	38,429	33,371	25,507	16,619	24,516	20,469
9	Myanmar	36,274	41,402	30,852	25,769	21,631	—	—
10	Germany	36,641	36,879	29,918	23,812	16,405	18,028	22,263
11	Bangladesh	25,849	26,355	29,060	23,440	14,831	21,851	22,410
12	Japan	30,534	29,817	27,326	22,979	17,613	25,892	26,694
13	France	30,646	31,810	26,140	20,863	16,405	24,097	21,842
14	Malaysia	21,329	22,833	18,284	13,669	9,855	18,915	18,842
15	Spain	19,057	20,214	15,953	12,255	6,741	13,110	10,412
16	Canada	17,102	17,317	15,105	12,491	8,398	11,610	12,132
17	Netherlands	15,032	15,353	13,393	11,453	7,515	12,320	10,516
	Total Foreigner	1,197,191	1,173,072	753,918	753,002	538,970	790,118	797,616

See also

• Visa policy of Nepal

References

External links

• Nepal travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Official tourism website
• Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation