2023 looks promising for Nepali tourism. The recovery seen in tourist arrivals in 2022, the opening of Pokhara Regional International Airport on January 1, and the Chinese government's announcement of resuming outbound travel of its citizens have rekindled new hope for the Nepali hospitality sector that braved over two disastrous years of the Covid-19 pandemic. With the tourism sector gradually coming out of the impact of the pandemic in 2022, travel trade entrepreneurs say there is growing optimism that there would be a surge in foreign tourist arrivals this year. After two years of negative growth, tourist arrivals touched the 600,000- mark in 2022. Tour operators say they are receiving increasing inquiries from major source markets of late. And, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) have said they are now targeting 1 million tourists in 2023.

Binayak Shah, First Vice President of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) said the initial trends in tourism are encouraging. "The inquiries we've been receiving from international visitors of late have given new hope. Indian tourists are again coming in big numbers while the Chinese government has also announced resuming outbound travels for its citizens," said Shah.

In 2022, tourist arrivals reached over 600,000 without any significant contribution from China, which was the second-largest source market for Nepal. Most of the flights from China to Nepal have remained suspended after the northern neighbor suspended outbound tourism since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, the Chinese government has announced that they would resume outbound travel of Chinese Citizens from January 8. "China will remove restrictions to enter China from January 8 and resume the outbound travel of Chinese citizens in an orderly manner," said Wang Xin, Charge de Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu while addressing the inauguration of Pokhara Regional International Airport on Sunday. Before the pandemic-related travel restrictions began in early 2020 in Nepal and across the world, China was the second largest source market for Nepal after India as the country welcomed 169,543 tourists from the northern neighbor. A total of 1.19 million foreign tourists visited Nepal in 2019 before the pandemic hit the world. Nepali tour operators say they are hopeful of a huge surge in Chinese tourist arrivals in Nepal in 2023. “With the normalization of flights with China, we can welcome at least 100,000 Chinese tourists in 2023," said Bishwesh Shrestha, owner of C&K Travels which specializes in Chinese tourists. Shrestha said tour operators also plan to travel to China for tourism promotion this year if the Covid-19 situation improves there. In 2022, Nepal welcomed 9,595 Chinese tourists, according to NTB. According to Shrestha, there is still some uncertainty as to when other Chinese airlines would resume their flights to Nepal. While China Southern and Air China are now operating their flights to Kathmandu, other airlines - China Eastern, and Sichuan Air are yet to resume their Kathmandu flights. "Hopefully, there will be some clarity by mid-January," said Shrestha, adding, "We hope there will be more flights from China by the end of January." According to tour operators, the fact that many countries still have some kind of reservations about letting Chinese tourists enter their countries could bring a large number of Chinese tourists to Nepal. "If there will be normalization of flights from China as that of the pre-Covid period, we could welcome more than 100,000 Chinese tourists in 2023," said Shrestha. The NTB on its 24th anniversary said that it aims to attract at least one million foreign tourists in 2023. Travel trade entrepreneurs say the concerned stakeholders including government agencies must act assertively to realize the 1-million target. "All stakeholders associated with tourism must convey the message that Nepal is ready to welcome international tourists effectively and quickly. The more effectively we impart this message, the more tourists Nepal will welcome in 2023," said Shah. According to tour operators, the airlines that bring a large number of foreign tourists to Nepal - Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Korean Air along with Chinese airlines have not started their full-fledged operations in Nepal. As for the European tourists, tour operators say the flow will not increase till August/September. There are now three international airports after the inauguration of Pokhara International Airport on Sunday. Other two international airports—Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu and Gautam Buddha International Airport are already operating. The Tribhuvan International Airport has been facing prolonged traffic congestion while new airports are yet to be promoted for international airlines. Tourism entrepreneurs say while Nepal has now two international airports, their full utilization is still in question. "The Nepal government must do marketing these two new airports. If we improve tourism infrastructure that includes air connectivity also, it could boost the arrivals," said Shah, "These airports, if operated properly, can handle more travelers and help increase the arrivals of foreign tourists.” said the tour operator. The government also has its own tourism revival plans. In late December, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation unveiled the strategic framework designed for the Nepal Tourism Decade 2023-2032. As per the framework, Nepal plans to bring in 3.5 million tourists, excluding India and those coming overland, in the next 10 years. The plan also aims to bring the tourist numbers to pre-pandemic levels by 2024 and increase arrivals in each subsequent year by 15 percent. Shah said the announcement of 2023-2032 as Nepal Tourism Decade by the previous government should be owned by the new government.