KATHMANDU, Nepal - Despite the ambitious target of welcoming one million visitors, only around 730,000 visitors entered the country during the much publicized Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011 thanks to poor and delayed publicity campaign.

Nepal observed aggregate growth of 21.4 percent in total tourist arrivals via air in 2011, according to statistics complied by Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA) Immigration Office. A total of 544,985 tourists entered the country via air in 2011 -- about 100,000 more than what the country had welcomed a year ago. Similarly, total arrivals through land routes till the first 11 months of 2011 reached 174,612. Read more