Trend and Growth of Religious Tourist Arrivals in Nepal: A Time Series Overview

Abstract

Religious tourism is a part of overall tourism industry and is a significant driver of Nepalese economy, spurring substantially to the creation of employment, foreign exchange reserve, and promoting cultural exchange. Despites its immense contribution, the systematic study and analysis in this regard is still sparse, scant and even neglected in the Nepalese context. The aim of this paper is to examine the trend and pattern of the tourist arrival and specially focusing on the religious tourist arrivals in Nepal, and discuss its association with business growth of local economy. This study uses the time series data spanning between 1993 to 2023 on the total tourist and religious tourist arrival to examine the trend of religious tourist arrival. The evidence suggests that during the period 1993–1997, the share of religious remained quite low, ranging mostly between one percent to three percent, whereas the late 1997 to early 2000s saw a gradual increase, but the most notable change is observed between the period 2002 and 2004. However, religious tourist arrival between the period 2011 and 2016 showed considerable volatility, with multiple sharp drops, possibly due to disruptive events such as natural disasters or socio-political upheavals seen during the period of constitution of Nepal Promulgation. The period between 2016 to 2020, strong recovery could be observed, ranging religious tourist arrival 14-16 percent, showing optimistic scenario after full-fledged declaration Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. But, a sharp dip occurred in 2021 due to COVID-19 lockdown and global travel restrictions, but a recovery followed in 2022–2023, with percentages climbing back above 14 percent. The trend of religious tourist shows a steady upward indicating, potentiality for Nepalese economy. It also suggests policy implications for boosting pilgrimage and cultural tourism. The findings highlight that several religious sacred sites including Pashupatinath’s, accounting for a significant proportion of international arrivals.