KATHMANDU, Feb. 15(Xinhuanet)-- The total number of tourists visiting Nepal last month decreased by 15.68 percent over the same period of last year, the Nepal Tourism Board said Tuesday.

Altogether 19,032 visitors from different parts of the world came to Nepal by air in January, down from the number of 22,552 tourists in the same month of 2004, according to a press release issued by the semi-government bureau.

The number of Indian tourists arriving in Nepal went down by 11.58 percent to 5,846 visitors from 6,612, while tourists from othercountries also recorded an overall decrease of 17.27 percent to 15,940 visitors from 17,271.

Tourist arrivals from the Nepali tourist industry's traditionalmarkets, namely the United States, Britain and Japan, recorded decreases of 8.99 percent, 19.61 percent and 28.96 percent respectively. The number of visitors from China also declined by 61.79 percent to 421 visitors in January.

Tourism is one of the major foreign currency earners for Nepal,which boasts of unique landscapes and cultures, and earns about 170 million US dollars for the Himalayan kingdom every year. In recent years, however, the country's tourist industry suffered a downturn due to the anti-government insurgency.