The number of visitors coming to Nepal by air in September fell down by 7.4 percent to 25,484, compared to the same month last year, a press release issued on Monday by Nepal Tourism Board said.

In terms of various originating markets, the number of visitors coming from member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Asia dropped during the month as arrivals from Bangladesh plummeted by 54.5 percent and from China by 13.8 percent.

Arrivals from the European markets showed marginal loss of 2.8 percent. The major contributors French, German and Spanish markets remained positive with gains of 4.3 percent, 2.2 percent and 19.5 percent, respectively.

According to the release, September 2006 marked a mixed performance in terms of arrival numbers to Nepal. The long haul markets, like the United States, Australia and Spain have gained substantially while the neighboring regional markets have registered negative growth.

The mark up in long-haul segment is a clear indication of returning consumer confidence towards the destination thanks to improvement of security and safety in Nepal.

Despite the apparent fall in tourist arrivals, hotels and airlines have reported high occupancy after a long spell, the release said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2006)