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The increasing trend in tourist arrival to Nepal continued in January, 2008, bringing in 2985 more visitors as compared to January last year. According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), January recorded healthy increment of 12.9% against the arrival figure of same period last year (via air only). According to statistical figures disseminated by NTB, arrivals from the SAARC region increased by 7% despite the decline in arrivals from India (-12.2%) and Sri Lanka (-12.5%). The European and North American markets have registered robust growth of 33.1% and 34.3% respectively. China (96.8%), South Korea (5.1%), Thailand (23.2 %) and Malaysia (12.1 %) posted a remarkable growth. In January, South Korea contributed more than 10% of the total tourist arrival. However, arrivals from another stable market for Nepal, Japan, went down by 15.3%. Among European countries, the UK (33.9 %), France (78.5 %), Germany (4.5 %), Spain (28.5 %), and Netherlands (36.5 %) have recorded a significant growth showing increased consumer confidence towards the destination. However, arrivals from Austria declined by 7.5%. Nepal received record number (over half million) of visitors in the year 2007 surpassing the best figures of 1999. With substantial increase in tourist arrival in January, it can be expected that the coming months will also record impressive growth rates. |