Kathmandu, May 28: The average daily spending of tourists visiting Nepal has seen a decline by 19 percent. A recent economic survey the government unveiled showed the reduction in tourists’ spending.
Chairman of the National Tourism Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal, Kumar Mani Thapaliya, expressed worry over decreased spending capacity of Nepal visitors. He argued it would dent Nepal’s ambition of prosperity through tourism.
“Tourists visiting Nepal are unable to go to town on recreation, shopping, drinks and sightseeing because of rising travel costs. The cost of travel has increased sharply in recent times,” he said, adding that we have not created environment either for them to spend lavishly. As a result, they have turned skinflint.
Implementation of luxury package provisions is waited for tourists, for which convenient and accessible travel routes and development of artistic structures counts much.
The economic survey released on Wednesday stated that tourists who spent an average of 40.84 US dollars in the previous fiscal year reduced their bills to 33.08 US dollars this year.
In this regard, the Immigration Department has the Central Electronic Tourism Management Information System (CeTMIS) in place which automatically calculates the arrival and departure dates of tourists.
As per survey, the number of tourists arriving in Nepal this year however increased by 1.3 percent, totaling 1,162,365 compared to the previous year. Nearly 60.2 percent of foreign tourists engage in leisure and recreational activities in Nepal.
Thapaliya observed that the pilgrims constitute 14.4 percent of the most frequently visiting tourists. Similarly, 14.2 percent of tourists travel for trekking, while 11.2 percent for other reasons, including business and education or research.
To a positive note, the average stay per tourist has increased from 13.30 days in 2024 to 16.34 days in 2025.
Of the total tourists visiting Nepal in 2025, those from India were the highest- over 200 thousand. The number is trailed by those from the US, China, the UK, and Bangladesh respectively.
The tourism sector was able to generate Rs 83.39 billion in revenue last year.
Vice-chairman of the Thamel Tourism Development Council (TTDC), Sahadev Dhamala, said there is a shortage of quality shopping items for tourists in Nepal at present. “The state should focus on investment to better services and produce quality goods for foreign visitors,” Dhamala suggested.
