Nepal received the highest number of tourists from India and China, but their length of stay is the lowest among all the source markets. According to the Tourism Ministry, visitors from the two neighbouring countries spent 7.99 and 10.14 days respectively in Nepal in 2011. The length of stay of Indian tourists is the lowest among the source markets. Chinese visitors are the third shortest stayers. The average length of stay of Indian tourists recorded a drop from 10.10 days in 2010. Similarly, the length of stay of Chinese tourists was down from 15.38 in 2010. Sri Lankan visitors stayed an average of 10.08 days in Nepal to take the spot between Indians and Chinese. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka sent the third largest number of tourists to Nepal in 2011. Nepal received 154,735 Indian, 75,631 Chinese and 69,241 Sri Lankan visitors last year. The three countries took the first, second and third spots respectively in arrivals last year. Finnish tourists took the top spot in length of stay, spending an average of 24.50 days in Nepal in 2011. They were followed by visitors from the US, Norway, Australia and Switzerland. Travel trade entrepreneurs said that the Indian market has been classified in the mass tourism segment so Indian visitors have a short length of stay. Their favourite places to visit are Kathmandu, Pokhara, Jomsom and Muktinath. Similarly, pilgrimage is the number one purpose of visit for Chinese and Sri Lankan tourists. Meanwhile, the average length of stay of tourists in Nepal increased to a seven-year high of 13.12 days in 2011. Travel trade analysts have attributed the record growth to a decline in strikes and increased tourist arrivals for trekking and mountaineering, particularly from the US and Europe. According to the Tourism Ministry, visitors coming for trekking and mountaineering in 2011 increased 11.7 percent against a decline of 47.2 percent in 2010. Nepal recorded the highest ever length of stay of 13.51 days in 2004.
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