Nepal holiday arrivals on the rise

An increasing number of overseas tourists have been heading to Nepal, tourism officials have revealed.

The Nepal Tourism Board said there was a 2.5% increase compared to last year as 44,571 foreign tourists arrived by air in the first eight months of 2012.

The figures were based on information from the Immigration Department at the Tribhuvan International Airport.

The number of tourists from countries in Europe visiting Nepal went up by around 6.1% over the eight-month period. The period also saw a 4.2% increase in tourists from South Asia, while tourist arrivals from Bangladesh were up 7.2%.

In terms of overall visitor numbers, the figures show a total of 377,043 tourists entered Nepal during the first eight months of this year, representing a 16.3% increase on last year.

Many adventurous Britons take trekking holidays in Nepal, recruiting the services of trained sherpas and having a go at conquering the mountainous Himalayan region and Mount Everest on the China-Nepal border.