Nepal welcomed over 1.15 million foreign tourists in 2025, a slight rise from the previous year, as reported by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). The country received 1,158,459 foreign tourists in 2025, showing a one percent increase compared to 2024. However, this growth did not fully recover pre-pandemic levels, with Nepal hosting more tourists in 2019 before the Covid-19 outbreak.
The tourism sector in Nepal faced challenges, particularly due to the Gen-Z movement in early September, resulting in the destruction of several hotel properties. This setback occurred just as the industry was starting to recover from the impact of the pandemic. The violent protests led to 77 fatalities and caused significant damage to both government and private properties, amounting to over NPR 84 billion according to a government report.
Despite the disruptions caused by the Gen-Z protests, Nepal’s foreign tourist arrivals did not decline as sharply as predicted by the World Bank. India remained the largest source market for Nepal, with 292,438 visitors in 2025, representing 25.2 percent of total foreign tourist arrivals. Following India, the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and Bangladesh were among the top countries sending tourists to Nepal.
The World Bank had initially forecasted a significant drop in foreign tourist arrivals after the Gen-Z protests. While there was an 18.3 percent year-on-year decline in tourist arrivals in September, the situation improved slightly in October and November compared to the previous year. Additionally, Nepal secured foreign direct investment commitments amounting to NPR 30,263 million across 476 projects in the first five months of the fiscal year 2025-26 that commenced in mid-July 2025.
