Despite good news on the tourist front in the last months of 2005, overall arrivals declined by 3.9 percent during the year, says the Nepal Tourism Board. Total visitors numbered 277,129 compared to 288,356 in 2004. Japanese tourists led the drop?their numbers fell 17.7 percent last year. Visitors from European countries were down 10.9 percent, while US arrivals fell 9.8 percent, according to the NTB. However, arrivals of Asian tourists jumped 10.3 percent overall, led by Indian, Bangladesh and Sri Lankan nationals. Arrivals grew overall during the last two quarters (24 percent and 16 percent), which coincided in part with the Maoist ceasefire. Lumbini was one tourist destination to benefit from the increased inflow of tourists. The birthplace of Buddha recorded a five percent increase in visitors, to 39,784, according to the Lumbini Development Trust. The largest number of visitors (15,519) came from Sri Lanka, followed by Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Burma.