Kathmandu - The number of tourists visiting Nepal increased to their highest level in eight years in October, coinciding with the start of the trekking season, officials said Tuesday.

Figures released by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said 50,567 tourists arrived in Nepal via air in October, an increase of 16.6 per cent from the same period last year.

The growth was the highest the country has seen in eight years for a single month and represented a healthy outlook for the winter and spring seasons that are considered the best time for trekking in the Himalayas.

"Preliminary figures by the immigration office say the total number of visitors arriving in Nepal since January crossed 307,748, an increase of 4 per cent from the same period last year," the NTB said.

It said the number of arrivals was pushed up by positive growth from South Asia, East Asia, Europe and North America.

"The entire South Asian nations posted a growth of 26.3 per cent," NTB said. "Britain, Israel, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and Sweden along with the United States and Canada have also maintained the increasing trend in the arrival figures."

India which is the biggest tourist market for Nepal continued to show good performance with a nearly 14-per-cent rise in October.

One of the reasons for the growth is better air connectivity to Nepal from several Asian countries, officials said.

Since last year, nearly a dozen airlines have begun services to Kathmandu to meet increasing demand.

In October, Thai International Airways said it was adding three more flights to Kathmandu from Bangkok due to growing demand, bringing the total number of flights between the two capitals to 10 per week.

Singapore's Silk Air and Korean Airlines have also added flights between Kathmandu and Singapore or Seoul respectively.

In 2007, just over half a million tourists visited Nepal, the highest since 1999, and officials say they expect the number of visitors this year to eclipse last year's record.

The tourism industry is one of Nepal's biggest foreign exchange earners, bringing in millions of dollars to the impoverished country and providing employment to hundreds of thousands of people. (dpa)