Nepal enjoyed sustained positive growth in international visitor arrivals since June 2009 and the trend continues even in 2010, according to figures released here on Tuesday.
Figures released by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), show that visitor arrivals in January 2010, compared to last January, increased by 18.8 percent to 26,071.
In January 2010, India recorded positive growth of 9.9 percent. In the SAARC region, arrivals from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka registered positive growth by 43.3, 37.3 and 9.9 percent, respectively.
Arrivals from Japan, Malaysia and South Korea had positive growth by 19.5, 57.2 and 87.2 percent, respectively.
However, China, Thailand and Singapore had negative growth of 18.3, 25.1 and 3.2 percent, respectively.
Overall positive growth of 34.9 percent showed from European markets with arrivals from major markets such as the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland up by 12.6, 17, 25.8, 40.9, 92.2, 62.4 and 5.8 percent, respectively.
Arrivals from Australia, Canada and the USA also showed growth of 17.5, 69.2 and 10.2 percent, respectively.