POKHARA, May 8: A total of 1,147,567 foreign tourists visited Nepal in 2024, with the number of Chinese tourists being 101,879, which is approximately nine percent of the total.
In contrast, in 2019, when the highest number of foreign tourists visited Nepal, the number of Chinese tourists that year was 14 percent (169,543).
Nepal's tourism sector has long had high expectations from Chinese tourism and has been focusing on its marketing efforts accordingly. However, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the arrival of Chinese tourists was significantly impacted.
Due to the fear of the virus, the number of Chinese visitors declined and it was only in 2024 that the figure managed to rise to 9 percent. Nepal's tourism industry, which had high hopes from Chinese tourism, felt some optimism when China declared 2025 as the ‘Visit Nepal Year.’ However, despite these hopes, the expected influx of Chinese tourists has not materialized as anticipated.
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While China has declared 2025 as the "Visit Nepal Year," the data indicates that the number of Chinese tourists arriving in Nepal is even weaker than the previous year. According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) in the first four months of 2019 (January to April), 59,437 Chinese tourists visited Nepal.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of arrivals declined every year after 2019. As the tourism sector began to recover, in the first four months of 2024 (January to April), only 38,290 Chinese visitors arrived in Nepal.The NTB has stated that the arrival of Chinese tourists in the first four months of 2025 is even weaker than the previous year. From January to April 2025, only 36,954 Chinese visitors arrived in Nepal.
“The arrival of Chinese tourists this year is weaker than last year. While various activities have been organized to celebrate 2025 as the 'Visit Nepal Year,' tourist arrivals are still declining,” said Maniraj Lamichhane, the head of the NTB in Pokhara, “When China declared 2025 as the Visit Nepal Year, the tourism sector was optimistic. However, now that the expected number of tourists hasn't arrived, the business sector is disappointed. Compared to the same period last year, fewer tourists have come this year. This is not what we expected.”
While China was promoting visits to Nepal, various tourist activities were organized in Pokhara, which were expected to create a foundation for bringing Chinese tourists to the city. Additionally, charter and scheduled flights were launched from Pokhara to Chengdu and Lhasa in China to make it easier for Chinese tourists to travel directly to Pokhara. Promotional activities were also carried out in the Chinese market to align with the plan of bringing Chinese tourists directly to Pokhara. However, despite these efforts, the arrival of Chinese tourists has not been as encouraging as expected, according to Lamichhane.
Lamichhane stated that the expectations from the charter flights, which started in the first week of Chaitra (mid-March), have not been met. He explained that there were bookings for three flights from Pokhara to Chengdu and ten flights from Chengdu to Pokhara, and although these flights were supposed to operate continuously, the number of tourists arriving has been much lower than expected.
When the Pokhara–Chengdu charter flights started, the tourism sector had anticipated that at least 1,200 Chinese tourists would arrive through the 10 flights to Pokhara. “Even though direct air connectivity between Nepal's two international airports (Pokhara and Kathmandu) and Chinese cities was expanded, the number of Chinese tourists arriving in Nepal has still not met expectations," Lamichhane said. “There has been no lack of marketing for the Chinese market. Programs designed to attract Chinese tourists were organized. However, the expected number of visitors did not materialize.”
Lamichhane estimates that the failure to attract sufficient Chinese tourists is mainly due to the economic downturn following COVID-19. “Since the Chinese economy has weakened, we believe that tourists are not able to travel as before. The old trend of Chinese tourists traveling has significantly reduced. Not just in Nepal, but in other countries as well, the presence of Chinese tourists is not the same as it was before the pandemic,” Lamichhane said, “Chinese tourists are no longer traveling in large numbers like they used to. This has had a significant impact on Nepal as well. Otherwise, even with the expansion of direct air connectivity to Pokhara, the number of Chinese arrivals has not reached the expected level.”
Businesses in Pokhara are expressing dissatisfaction over the failure to attract Chinese tourists as expected. Bharat Raj Parajuli, a central member of the Hotel Association Nepal said, “After COVID-19, the arrival of Chinese tourists couldn't pick up as anticipated. This year, we had hoped for a sufficient number of Chinese tourists, but that hasn't happened. The tourism sector is disappointed due to the lack of an increase in Chinese arrivals.” According to him, the main reason for the low number of Chinese tourists is the high airfare to Nepal. He explains that the expensive flights to Nepal make it less attractive for Chinese tourists, as they can visit other destinations and return without coming to Nepal.
He stated, “If Nepal had been able to operate flights to the Chinese market at affordable prices through its own airlines, then Chinese tourists would have arrived. It is not appropriate to rely solely on foreign airlines for attracting tourists.” He added, “Without our own airlines, we couldn't reach the Chinese market. Since that didn't happen, tourists couldn't arrive. If Nepal Airlines were to operate flights with affordable packages to attract tourists, then visitors would come.”
Despite China declaring 2025 as the ‘Visit Nepal Year,’ he pointed out that there hasn't been enough added attraction in the programs to bring in Chinese tourists. “Chinese tourists visiting Pokhara were interested in paragliding, but that too has faded into the background. Now, we need to introduce new activities that can attract tourists,” he said.
