Chinese tourists are flooding into Nepal, and the floodgates haven’t even opened
Once barely a footnote in the tourism stats of the Himalayan nation, Chinese visitors now compete for prominence and are likely to grow exponentially once infrastructure improvements pave way for more of them
When Bishwesh Shrestha started out in 1997, he was a bit of an oddball in Kathmandu’s travel business fraternity. Not many were interested or cared about Chinese tourists. Nepal Airways had just one flight from Osaka through Shanghai, with just 20 seats reserved for Chinese passengers. But he was convinced that China was where the future lay.
Shrestha convinced a relative who had studied in China and spoke the language to go into business with him. Together they went to China and got to know a few agents “who were doing Nepal very hesitantly”.
“I set myself a target of 500 Chinese tourists for the first year. Somehow I managed to achieve it,” says Shrestha, managing director of Shuang Qi Tours. There was no looking back. Now he handles 6,000 Chinese tourists every year, as China emerges as one of the most important source countries for Nepal’s critical tourism industry, accounting for 7.5 per cent of its GDP.
“Only a decade ago, Chinese tourists amounted to about 30,000-35,000 annually. This year we are expecting nearly 40,000 for this Lunar New Year holiday season alone,” says Deepak Raj Joshi, chief executive of Nepal Tourism Board. “After a brief slowdown following the 2015 earthquake, Chinese arrivals have picked up again. At 20-30 per cent annually, it’s the fastest growing segment of tourism in Nepal.”
Last year, India still remained the top tourist source country, with 160,000 air arrivals, followed by China, at 104,000. “This year, we expect about 160,000 to 170,000 from India, and China to narrow the gap substantially by going up to 130,000 to 135,000. While Indians are travelling further afield, Nepal is still a new destination for the Chinese,” Joshi says.
