The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said that tourist arrivals by air declined 38 percent in April this year as compared to the same month of the previous year. NTB's tally for April shows 18,879 tourists arriving by air compared to 30,402 tourists last April. Some 5,058 of them were Indian this year while 7,511 Indian tourists visited in April last year. Tourist arrivals from the UK, USA, Germany, Japan and Australia were down by 29, 33, 30, 45 and 30 percent respectively. The decline is attributed to the unstable political situation in the country. NTB also says that since September First, tourist arrivals had seen a continuous decline. The industry believes that until a strong national carrier and competitive packages are not floated in markets, revival of tourist numbers will be difficult despite relentless efforts. Even then, industry experts are optimistic that the arrival trends will go up now that the emergency has been lifted.