Nepal has announced that it will focus on regional markets such as India and China in its bid to negate the impacts of the global economic slowdown.

From year-to-date February 2009 tourist arrivals figures, Nepal reported an approximate16% decline from the same period in 2008.

In addition to the global economic slowdown, this decline was also attributed to the Mumbai attacks and Thailand's political crisis.

In 2008, Nepal reported a 4% increase in tourist arrivals from 2007, as compared to a 35% growth in 2007.

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