Nepal has witnessed a huge influx of Indian tourists in the first six months of 2018, government data revealed.
According to the data released by the Department of Immigration, Nepal, the number of incoming Indian tourists in Nepal stood at 96,372 out of the total 460,304 foreign tourists hosted by Nepal in between January to June 2018.
The number of Chinese tourists stood second with number standing at 71,379, with the number of tourists from the United States of America at 43,816 and Japan tallied at 13,851.
Nepal, which faced a major setback in 2015 with the devastating earthquake, destroying ancient monuments and claiming thousands of lives with scores injured, is rising up from the rubble.
The Himalayan Nation, which nearly brought in a million tourists in 2017, has announced the year 2020 as the 'Tourism Year' and aims to host about two million tourists in the coming years.
The latest government numbers are encouraging as the number of tourists landing in Nepal has increased by about 13 percent in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Also, the number of tourists incoming during the monsoon season, which is considered the off-season for tourism, has increased continuously.
During the first six months of 2018, the Himalayan Nation has welcomed tourists from several South Asian countries, European countries like Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland and Sweden among others.
However, Nepal, which shares a wide trench of open border with India, thus allowing the citizens to travel to and fro without restraints, does not keep a record of Indian tourists who arrive in Nepal by road.
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