Nepal Tourism Board reported an overall 57 percent drop in tourist arrivals in June compared to the previous year. This is the leanest summer yet and caused by upheavals and bad publicity in the wake of the 1 June murders at the royal palace. Indian arrivals were down by a whopping 72 percent, despite the new NTB Festival of Life package marketed in India. NTB officials say the promotional efforts in India were overshadowed by news reports on the royal palace massacre, increased Maoist activities and continued political uncertainty. The June slump came just when overall arrivals were looking good and the NTB had been hoping its costly marketing effort in India would fill hotels from the June-September, the traditional low season for Western tourists. Only 10,238 tourists came by air in June, 4,101 Indians and 6,137 others.

The low arrivals caused occupancy of hotels across Nepal to drop to the low 20s. Sources at the Radisson Hotel in Kathmandu said June occupancy was about 18 percent and they were hoping it would crawl up to the 40s this month. We can spring back only if we could have some stability, said Kent Davidson, general manager at Radisson. But there is no reason that the high season beginning in October will not be good. Overall arrival figures for the first six months were pretty good. Arrivals for the first six months of 2001 were almost similar to that of the past year.