Tourist arrivals to Pokhara up

POKHARA, March 8: Tourist arrivals to Pokhara in 2010 increased by 13.39 percent, as compared to arrival figures recorded a year earlier.



According to Pokhara Tourism Office, the lake city welcomed a total of 230,799 tourists in 2010, 27,272 more than what it had welcomed in 2009.[break]



“We have been witnessing rise in number of tourists every year. The number can increase further if we focused more on promotional programs at both national and international level,” Giridhari Dhakal, chief of the office, told Republica. Dhakal further added that Pokhara aims to attract 500,000 tourists in 2011.



Nepal is celebrating the year 2011 as Nepal Tourism Year with the target of welcoming one million visitors.



Pokhara receives a large number of tourists from India, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, China and US, among others, every year.



According to the office, 52,740 of the total visitors in 2010 were from India. Similarly, UK (17,880), Japan (16,475), Germany (15,915), China (10,926) and the US (10,433) were the other leading tourism markets for Pokhara during the year.



“As many as 40 percent of the total visitors enjoyed trekking in the Annapurna region," Dhakal added.

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