While Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia are seeing a surge in the number of Chinese visitors since February, Nepali travel trade entrepreneurs are still waiting for the inclusion of Nepal in the Chinese government's list for outbound group tours. Nepal was excluded when China first published the list of outbound destinations for Chinese citizens in January this year after the country abandoned the strict travel measures related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite China not including Nepal in its list of outbound travel destination countries, there has been a growth in the number of Chinese nationals visiting Nepal in February. A total of 2,266 visitors from the northern neighbor came to Nepal in February compared to 1,426 in January. Travel agencies involved in bringing Chinese tourists said they are waiting for the inclusion of Nepal in the Chinese outbound group tours list. According to them, there have been increasing inquiries from Chinese travel agencies of late.

While there is growth in the FITs (free independent travelers) in recent months, group travelers from the northern neighbor are yet to visit Nepal.

"There are no group tour movements from the northern neighbor," said Bishwesh Shrestha, owner of C&K Travels, which specializes in Chinese tourists. "We are waiting for the Chinese government to include Nepal's name in the list of countries where Chinese can travel." Once China includes Nepal in the list, travel trade entrepreneurs said they can start their preparations in Nepal as well as in China. According to them, travel agencies in China have started their homework about Nepal, especially the new hotels added last year, and the cost part. "The Chinese travel agencies have started collecting information," said Shrestha. When China announced the reopening of outbound travel for its citizens, travel trade entrepreneurs in Nepal were quite hopeful of welcoming a good number of Chinese guests in 2023. The Chinese Ministry for Culture and Tourism on January 20 issued the first list of the 20 countries where Chinese tourists could travel. China had included Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, Hungary, New Zealand, Fiji, Cuba, and Argentina as an outbound destination for Chinese citizens. The Global Times, an influential Chinese newspaper, China's outbound travel has reported a rapid rebound in the month since the country resumed cross-border group tours on February 6, with more passenger trips and increased flight capacity. Asian countries and regions are among the most popular tourist destinations, taking more than 80 percent of the growth, with Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia ranking as the top three destinations in terms of outbound passenger trips from mainland China. The missing of Nepal from the list, according to Nepali travel trade entrepreneurs could affect the government's target of welcoming 1 million tourists in 2023. 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 in 2019. A total of 1.19 million foreign tourists visited Nepal in 2019 before the pandemic disrupted global tourism. According to travel trade entrepreneurs, a significant contribution of Chinese tourists would be required if Nepal wants to meet the target of 1 million in 2023. In 2022, tourist arrivals reached over 600,000 without any significant contribution from China. Nepal welcomed only 9,595 Chinese tourists in 2022. With Chinese airlines also resuming their Nepal operations, travel trade entrepreneurs said air connectivity is no more issue now. While China Southern and Air China are already operating their flights to Kathmandu, Sichuan Airlines is resuming its Kathmandu flights on March 20. “There is no problem for Chinese tourists to visit Nepal,” said a tour operator.