Nepal’s 7 Interesting Tourism Trends of 2024

Birat Anupam

Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has come up with ‘Tourism Statistics of 2024’ which accommodates interesting tourism trends of Nepal. In 2024, Nepal welcomed 1,147,548 tourists and this number brings in varied aspects of evolving tourism trend in Nepal. Let us dig into 7 tourism trends of 2024 in Nepal.

1. Once again Bangladesh surpasses Australia as source country

In 2024, SAARC nation Bangladesh has outnumbered Australia as Nepal’s top five source country of tourists. In 2023, Nepal’s top five tourist source countries were India, USA, China, UK and Australia as first, second, third, fourth and fifth largest source respectively. In 2024, the position is almost the same sans Australia which has been outnumbered by Bangladesh. In 2021 and 2022 also, Bangladesh was in fifth position. Before that, Bangladesh would be absent in Nepal’s top five tourists country by nationalities.

2.  Out of five tourists-carrying airlines, only two are Nepali

Tourism statistics say six airlines are major tourist carriers in Nepal. They are- Nepal Airlines, Himalaya Airlines, Qatar Airways, Fly Dubai, Indigo Air and Air Arabia. Nepal airline is overtaken by Qatar Airways to ferry tourists to and from Nepal. In 2024, Nepal Airlines has ranked second followed by Himalaya Airlines, Fly Dubai and Indigo Air. Nepal Airlines was ranked top one tourist carrier in 2019, 2020 and 2023. Interestingly, for the five consecutive years of 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, Himalaya Airlines has ranked top three tourist carrier in Nepal.

3. Length of stay up, per capita spending down

In an interesting contrast, tourists’ length of stay has increased. However, the per capita spending has decreased. In 2024 the average length of stay has climbed to 13.3 days from the previous year’s 13.2 days. The per capita spending of visitor has downed to 40.8 US dollar in 2024 from the previous year’s 41 US dollar. In the last five years, the highest per visitor spending per day was in 2020 when the spending stood at 65 US dollar. The lowest was 40.5 US dollar in 2022.

Nepal started to make recordkeeping of the average length of stay since 1974. Since then, the longest length of stay was in 2021 when the figure stood at 15.5 days. The lowest one was recorded in 2002 when the digit of average length of stay was 7.92 days.

4. Rapid decrease in trekkers from the SAARC nations

The trekkers to the world-class trekking trails of Nepal are mostly from the nations of Global North. From the SAARC region, the figure is negligible. In 2024, 197 trekkers arrived from the SAARC region. It was the rapid decrease from the previous year’s 1731 where number of Free Individual Trekker (FIT) was 857 and Group Trekkers (GT) number was 874.

5. Significant growth of non-Indian tourists in Lumbini and Pashupatinath

UNESCO-listed site and the birthplace of Lord Buddha, Lumbini saw the significant spiking of non-Indian tourists. In 2024, the volume of non-India tourists was 106,120 in Lumbini, up from previous year’s digit of 85,232. In the last 11 years of record at Lumbini, the highest number of non-Indian tourists was recorded in 2019 when 173,083 tourists visited; the lowest digit was in 2021 when 1,197 tourists visited Lumbini.

Another UNESCO-listed Hindu shrine Pashupatinath also witnessed the increased volume of non-Indian tourists. In 2024, a total of 136,139 tourists visited Pashupatinath whereas the digit of tourists was 118,531 in 2023. Based on the statistics of last 11 years from 2014 to 2024, the highest number of non-Indian tourists at Pashupatinath was in 2019 when 171,937. The lowest volume was in 2021 when the tourists’ number was just 3,190.

6. Decrease in complaints at Tourism Police Office

Compared to 2023, the number of tourism-related complaints at Tourism Police Office has been decreased.  In 2023, a total of 564 complaints were lodged at Tourism Police Office which came down to 428 in 2024. Of the 428 issues, 5 were of pick-pocketing, 3 were of robbery/theft, 10 were fraud-cheating and 39 of stolen items. The majority cases were of loss of documents and belonging which stood at 353 which, however was down from previous year’s 368.

7. Six trekking destinations witnessed 200 plus percent increase

Nepal’s six trekking destinations have witnessed more than 200 percent of trekkers compared to the previous year. Humla trekking topped the list with 487 percent increase to 1,045 tourists from the previous year’s trekkers of 178. Kanchanjunga saw the increase of 370 percent of trekkers. In 2024, 1,902 trekked to this area compared to the previous year’s figure of 405.

Likewise, Mustang trekking increased by 369 percent where 5,614 trekked to the area compared to 1,198 in 2023. There is spike of 314 percent of trekkers in Manaslu in 2024 when the number of tourists stood at 12,810. In 2023, the number was 3,094.

Both in Upper and Lower Dolpa, the trekkers’ number increase by 353.1 and 269 percent respectively. In 2024, total trekkers in Uppler Dolpa were 657, up from previous year’s 145. Lower Dolpa’s trekkers of 365 in 2023 climbed to 1,348 in 2024.