Kathmandu, July 26
In fiscal year 2025/26, 1,209,357 foreign tourists entered Nepal. According to the Nepal Tourism Board, the largest number, 311,531, came from India, while 111,325 tourists came from the United States and 109,892 from China.
According to international tourist arrival data released by the Nepal Tourism Board, India has become Nepal’s largest source market, accounting for about 25.76 percent of total arrivals. After India, the United States (111,325) is the second-largest source market, and China (109,892) is the third.
They were followed by 58,163 tourists from Bangladesh, 56,649 from the United Kingdom, 53,195 from Australia, 43,211 from Sri Lanka, 36,289 from Bhutan, 30,737 from Myanmar, 29,296 from Germany, 27,201 from Thailand, 25,762 from Japan, and 25,640 from Malaysia.
In the last fiscal year 2025/26, the highest number of foreign tourists, 124,829, arrived in mid-October to mid-November 2025. This was followed by 119,390 in mid-March to mid-April 2026, 114,152 in mid-February to mid-March 2026, and 111,780 in mid-September to mid-October 2025, according to the data.
The Nepal Tourism Board said it has intensified promotional programs in its closest source markets, India and China. In fiscal year 2025/26, more than 12 promotional events were held in various Indian cities including Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, and New Delhi. In total, more than 40 tourism promotional events for Nepal were held in international markets.
Similarly, in the last three months of fiscal year 2025/26, various cross-border tourism marts and fairs were held from Jhapa in the east to Kanchanpur in the west, to safeguard investment in tourism infrastructure in Nepal’s Tarai region bordering India. The Board’s analysis shows this led to a notable rise in the number of tourists entering Nepal through the border areas.
Nepal Tourism Board Acting Chief Executive Hikmat Singh Airee said Nepal’s tourism has grown positively due to international market promotion, expanded air access, and cooperation with the private sector.
He said, “Tourist arrivals in fiscal year 2025/26 clearly indicate that Nepal’s tourism industry is moving from recovery toward sustainable growth. Alongside our major source markets, we will continue making targeted promotion in new, promising markets more effective, in our ongoing effort to establish Nepal as an attractive year-round destination.”
Acting Chief Executive Airee pointed out that although China has enormous potential for tourist arrivals, sales missions targeting that market need to be made more effective to expand business-to-business (B2B) contacts.
He said, “To strengthen our presence further in new, high-potential source markets such as the US, Australia and Bangladesh, alongside China, we need to run regular international sales missions. To make tourism promotion more results-oriented, the Nepal Tourism Board is moving to expand such programs immediately in cooperation with the private sector through the fiscal year 2026/27 budget.”
Noting that the Government of Nepal has declared this year the Wellness Tourism Year 2027, Acting Chief Executive Airee said tourist arrival numbers are expected to rise further in the current fiscal year. The Nepal Tourism Board said it will work in the coming days to attract high-spending tourists, increase length of stay, and further strengthen Nepal’s tourism promotion in both traditional and new international markets.
