22 Chait, Kathmandu. Tourist arrivals in March 2026 decreased by one percent compared to 2025. This number was likely to be larger.

However, the 21 percent improvement in tourist arrivals from SAARC countries including India did not allow a big gap in the total tourist arrivals.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board, the country welcomed 120,516 tourists in March 2026. 121 thousand 687 tourists came in 2025.

On the other hand, there is a past trend of tourists coming from many western countries for trekking and mountaineering this season. Statistics show that it is having a big impact.

7 thousand 974 people came from America last March. In March 2025, this number was 11 thousand 92. That is, the number decreased by 28.1 percent.

The arrival ‘trend’ of Europeans is also similar. 4 thousand 814 people from Britain came to Nepal in March. Last year, 5,995 came. Arrivals from the UK fell by 19.7 percent. A decline of 18.9 percent was recorded in the overall arrivals of the European segment.

Deepakraj Joshi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board, says that as the raging war in West Asia continues, making that region a ‘transit’ has directly affected the arrival of tourists to Nepal.

At this time, Joshi himself was stuck at Doha airport for a week due to war. He flew to Germany after transiting Doha and got stuck in Doha due to the war. Later, after the program in Germany ended at the same time, he returned to Nepal via New Delhi, India. ‘Due to the war, travel has become uncertain,’ he says, ‘it seems that a country like ours will be hit hard.’

Spring is the season for climbing and trekking. At this time, tourists who spend a lot of time and spend a lot of time come to Nepal. These areas are also the basis for more income in Nepali tourism.

At this time, the topic of ‘fake rescue’ is spreading negative news in the tourism market. This case, which happened some time ago, has now been opened by the police and action has been taken. This is again promoting a negative image of Nepali tourism in the international tourism market.

On the other hand, due to the impact on the fuel supply due to the war, tourist services have become more expensive. Only last week, Nepal Oil Corporation has increased the price of aviation fuel. Air fuel prices for both domestic and foreign routes have doubled, making travel more expensive.

According to Nepal Civil Aviation Authority, the maximum air fare of Kathmandu-Dhangadhi route has reached 23 thousand 59 rupees.

‘One is the challenge of how to reach the destination, the other is that services have become expensive, in this situation there is a risk that tourists may reconsider their travel plans, which is not good news for an economy like ours,’ says Board CEO Joshi.

Suman Pandey, a senior tourism businessman who works closely with the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RASWPA), says that the government and the tourism industry should make a joint effort to stop the negative publicity about the fake rescue.

He said that if the impact of the Iran-US war is not reduced, it is necessary to find a positive side and work on alternatives. “The part we are in is now peaceful compared to other parts of the world, we can change it now,” he says, “We have to find an alternative to reduce the impact of war.”

As much as there are problems, if the government and industrialists sit together and find alternatives, he is of the opinion that conclusions will be reached quickly.

Accordingly, Board CEO Joshi said that the board has started to inform stakeholders of the international tourism market about transit options through various means.

Now Turkey, Delhi, Hong Kong and China are safe transit options to come to Nepal. He informed that the discussion on the strategy that does not affect the arrival by promoting it more has been advanced. In addition, the board emphasized on promotion to bring in more tourists from neighboring India and China, he said.

‘ASEAN countries, SAARC and China are a reliable resource market for us,’ he says, ‘We will campaign accordingly to ensure that Nepal is a safe destination for them when conflicts increase in other areas.’

Joshi has also seen the possibility that it can be used as a means to overcome external challenges, as there is no negative environment affecting tourism internally except for the increase in fuel prices.

Last week, America has relaxed the travel advisory about Nepal. Earlier, the US has eased Nepal’s high-risk destination and put it on the list where people can travel with caution.

Since American travel advisories are more trusted in the international tourism market, the fact that the same advisories are positive is good news for Nepal’s tourism.

The decision to add government holidays boosts domestic tourism

The tourism industry is enthusiastic about the addition of public holidays by the government. The cabinet meeting has now decided that government offices and all educational institutions will be closed on Fridays and Saturdays. CEO Joshi says that it will be very easy to ‘boost’ domestic tourism.

‘This is a topic that we have proposed to the government many times,’ he says, ‘it creates good business for destinations near urban areas.’

According to tourism businessman Pandey, this decision of the government will increase the working capacity of the government employees and will have a positive impact on tourism as they will have enough time for traveling.

‘On Friday, the efficiency was very low,’ he says, ‘now the remaining 5 days work at full capacity, two days off will contribute positively to the economy.’