The figures released by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport revealed that the total visitor arrivals till August 2008 have reached to 224,679. The figures represent an increase of 2% in comparison to the same period last year. However, the arrival figures in the month of August, 2008 compared to the same month last year have decreased by 2% to 26,313. On the other hand, the tourism industry has shown some signs of revival in the form of softening in decline as compared to 19% decrease in July 2008.

India, the largest tourist generating market for Nepal, bounced back with a remarkable growth of 13%. The entire South Asian region has gained overall positive growth of 16% with Bangladesh (48%), Pakistan (45%) and Sri Lanka(31%).

Similarly, other Asian countries Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia have maintained the upward trend with 77%, 59% and 16% of growth respectively in each market. The figures also reflect the revival in the visitors\\\' arrivals from the United Kingdom, one of the major source markets for Nepal with a notable growth of 35%. Australia and Norway have also maintained the increasing trend in the arrival figures.

However, other major markets such as Japan, China, and South Korea witnessed decrease by 9%, 35% and 13% respectively. European arrivals also suffered a significant decline with Italy (44 %), Germany (37%) and Spain (28%).

It is interesting to note that a total of 28082 tourists departed from TIA in August 2008, which is higher than the total arrivals.