Tourist arrivals up
Nepal Tourism Board has reported an increase in January tourist arrivals compared to last year, when tourist arrivals dipped to an all-time low. The NTB says tourist arrivals were up by about 33 percent last month, compared to the same period in 2000. Third country arrivals (excluding India) grew fastest, by about 35 percent. Indian arrivals also grew by about 26 percent, not much, given that compared to January 1999, it was down by about 55 percent. Taiwanese tourists, followed by those from Israel, Sweden, Austria, China and Switzerland led this year's growth in third country arrivals. Arrivals from Spain were slightly down, though. Still, January arrivals this year were slightly higher than the 1999 total, mainly due to the increase in third country tourists. Indian arrivals in January this year were about 43 percent lower than in 1999.

Travel trends
Year/January Total arrivals Indian arrivals
1999 25, 264 9,195
2000 19,529 4,207
2001 25,905 5,294