Tourists Increased by 40.

57 % in Lumbini
The number of tourists from Nepal and India in Lumbini, the holy birthplace of Sakyamuni
Buddha and World Heritage Site has mounted in 2014. 902621 Nepalese, 154216 Indians and
136991 Passport Holder totaling 1193828 visitors visited Lumbini this year. The grand total of
the Lumbini visitors in 2012 was 795860 which increased to be 849273 in 2013 and 1193828 in
2014. Hence, the number of visitors has mounted by 40.57 percent in 2014 than the previous
year. As usual, Lumbini received highest number of pilgrims from Sri Lanka with number totaling
37600 whereas Thai (24733), Chinese (20718), Burmese (18777), South Korean (8790),
Vietnamese (3649), and Japanese (2527) pilgrims remained in ascending order with total
number respectively.
Political stability in Nepal is the main reason of domestic tourist increament. 18th SAARC
Summit held in Nepal, agressive publicity role of social medias and other medias, political
stability in Thailand, Sri Lanka and other Buddhist countries have also played an important role
to mount visitors in Lumbini. Speedy development activities of Lumbini Development Trust,
wider range of publicity of Lumbini, better accommodation and road way facilities and combined
positive impact can be identified as other reasons of increment of tourist.
The Trust charges Rs. 200, Rs 100 and Rs. 16 for the Third Country, the SAARC and Indian
visitors respectively while Nepalese citizens enjoy free entry in Lumbini. The Trust is
accelerating up the activities of exploration, excavation, conservation and Lumbini Master Plan
implementation with government's aid and its internal income.