Thursday 18th April 2024
The tourist arrivals at Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, a cultural and pilgrimage center for Buddhists across the world, has touched 1.5 million mark in 2019.
The tourist arrivals include 1,178,140 domestic visitors.
On the other hand, Lumbini has attracted foreign tourists from 107 countries, mainly from India, Thailand and Sri Lanka.
Among the total tourist arrivals, 169,900 were passport holders, an increase by 3,000 from 2018.
However, the total number of tourists decreased by 100,000 when compared with 1.6 million visitors in 2018.
According to the Lumbini Development Trust, the data was compiled according to the ticket system and the visitors’ book at Maya Devi Temple.
Meanwhile, Saroj Bhattarai, Secretary of the Trust, said that the Nepali tourism entrepreneurs and travel agencies should provide tour packages to Lumbini to attract more visitors.
Moreover, he said that the Nepali Government is constructing required infrastructures at Gautam Buddha International Airport and other prominent places in the Buddha Circuit to create memorable experiences to the visitors in 2020.
Nepali Government has inaugurated the Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign on January 1, 2020 with an aim to attract 2 million foreign visitors to Nepal.
