SANGAM

Tourist arrival by air nosedives to a ‘record low’
SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, MAY 05 -
Tourist arrival via air has nosedived to probably the record low, thanks to the Maoist indefinite general strike.

According to Immigration Office at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), only 516 tourists arrived here on Tuesday compared to 1,367 on Saturday, the day when the Maoists announced their indefinite general strike. Within three days the arrival declined by 75 percent.

Nepal Tourism Board officials said tourist arrival by air used to be over 1,100 daily before the strike with the departure being at the same ratio. The arrival in April was recorded 38,694 compared to the corresponding period last year.

With the strike kicking in all across the country, the arrival has shown a cascading affect. Sunday’s figure shows that the arrival dropped to 1,087 and departure stood at 1,364. On Monday, the arrival plunged to 780 and departure was 1,289.

From the first day of strike, tourist arrival went on downward trajectory. On Sunday, the arrival declined by over 250 tourists. Things started turning into grim outlook as the banda continued.

The third day of strike, on Tuesday, saw a drastic decline in the arrival with the figure going down to 516. Departure was 1,210 on the same day. TIA officials said the arrival might fall drastically if the situation did not improve.

“Looking the present trend, arrival figure may come down to 300,” said Khadananda Dhakal, immigration chief at TIA.

Despite the poor arrival, flights of 25 international airline companies operating in Nepal are regular, officials said.

Authorities fear that the dismal picture may bode ill for Nepal Tourism Year 2011 and the target to bring in one millions tourists.

Strike bodes ill for the ambitious target, said Laxman Bhattarai, spokesperson of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation.

“There is no point of investing a big amount of money in the campaign if political parties do not try to develop the tourism sector,” he said.