More than 92,000 foreign tourists arrived to the Belahiya border crossing in 2024

BHAIRAHAWA, Jan 07:After 5 years, the Belahiya border crossing has seen the highest number of foreign tourists entering Nepal. According to Narayan Pandey, Chief and Immigration Officer of the Immigration Office, Belahiya Rupandehi, 92,644 foreign tourists passed through this border crossing in the calendar year 2024.

Similarly, 93,290 tourists have left via belahiya border crossing. Belahiya border crossing saw the largest number of tourists in 2018. That year, 166,235 tourists came. Which is the highest ever. Following that, visitor arrivals by land route continued to fall. When the Corona outbreak started in 2019, 161,600 foreign tourists crossed this border. According to records, 43,367 tourists passed through this border crossing in 2020, 812 in 2021, 20,220 in 2022, and 81,551 tourists came last year.

Immigration Officer Pandey said that tourist arrivals, which have been disrupted due to the Corona pandemic, have been increasing since last year.  Indian tourists have been flocking via this border crossing in big numbers. Neither the Immigration Office nor the Traffic Police Office keep track of the arrival of Indian tourists. 

In 2024, 26,577 tourist arrived from Sri Lanka, while 21,300 from Thailand, 11,400 from Myanmar, 7,484 from Vietnam, 3,800 from South Korea, and 2,600 from the United States entered Nepal through this border crossing.Tourist arrivals from Sri Lanka and Thailand have grown, while those from Myanmar and South Korea have fallen.

There have been no Chinese tourists crossing this border. In 2018, 5,250 Chinese people entered Nepal through the Belahiya border crossing, followed by 6,108 in 2019 and 813 in 2020. After that, no Chinese tourists arrive at the Belahiya border crossing. The main destination for travelers passing through this border crossing is Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. The next choices are Palpa, Pokhara, Muktinath, Kathmandu, and Sauraha.

According to Immigration Officer Pandey, while tourists entering Nepal through this border mostly intend to see Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, their stay is brief. Tourists rarely stay more than two nights in Lumbini, and most stay at least one night. According to Immigration Officer Pandey, almost 10% of them arrive and depart on the same day.