September 2: The travel expense incurred by Nepal under various heads in foreign countries is much more than the travel expenses made by tourists in Nepal, according to a report.

A report published by Nepal Rastra Bank on the current financial state of the country has revealed that foreign tourists visiting Nepal in Fiscal Year 2018/19 had spent Rs 73.57 billion in total during their stay in Nepal.  However, Nepal’s travel expense abroad has been recorded at Rs 89.58 billion during the review period.

Out of the total travel expenses incurred by Nepal, the country spent Rs 46.32 billion for education in foreign countries alone.

Nepal’s travel expense was Rs 79.60 billion in the previous fiscal year. The country’s travel expenses increased by 12.5 percent in one year. Meanwhile, the travel expense of foreigners in Nepal increased only by 9.7 percent. Although the spending of tourists increased last year as compared to the previous year, the rate of increase in spending has reduced to some extent. The rate of spending by foreigners had increased by 14 percent in FY 2017/18.

The arrival of tourists increased in the last fiscal year by 23.9 percent with the total number of visitors recorded at 12,38,589. Around 500,000 tourists have visited Nepal in the first six months of this year as per the Gregorian calendar. The government has set a target of welcoming 2 million tourists next year under the Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign.