:Nepal received 85,444 foreign visitors in August 2026, according to the Nepal Tourism Board — 3,236 fewer than the 88,680 arrivals recorded in August 2025, a modest dip in the wake of the August 26 Bhotekoshi flood disaster. India remained the largest single source market with 26,373 visitors, or nearly 31 percent of all arrivals, followed by China, Sri Lanka, the United States, Bangladesh and the United Kingdom.
The core message from Nepal's tourism sector is that disruption is geographically specific, not nationwide — but the practical details matter more than the general reassurance, and a traveler's actual plans determine whether the flood affects them at all.
What's actually closedThe flood struck the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridor after a glacial collapse near the Nepal-China border. According to Nepal's Department of Roads, a 42-kilometre stretch of road between Betrawati and Rasuwagadhi has been damaged at multiple points, causing several concrete bridges to get washed away, along with an additional 16-kilometre section toward the China border near Syafrubensi. There is no confirmed reopening date, and authorities have advised against any travel to Rasuwagadhi, Timure or Kerung until the road is formally reassessed. Overland travel to Kailash Mansarovar via this route, and cross-border trade through the crossing, both have been strictly prohibited for the remainder of the 2026.
Separately and unrelated to the flood but also adding to the disruption of the road segment, a section of the Prithvi Highway at Krishnabhir, Dhading, collapsed on August 30 after river erosion, cutting the main road route between Kathmandu and Pokhara/Chitwan. This is the same closure currently driving Kathmandu's cooking-gas shortage (see ICN's earlier coverage); for travelers, it means road trips on this route face diversions and longer journey times, even though the destinations themselves are unaffected.
What's open?Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu is operating normally, and domestic flights are running on schedule to Pokhara, Bharatpur (for Chitwan), Bhairahawa (for Lumbini), Everest-region airstrips, Janakpur and Biratnagar — the flood damaged roads and bridges, not airports or flight operations. The major trekking regions — Everest/Khumbu (Everest Base Camp, Gokyo, the Three Passes) and Annapurna (Annapurna Base Camp, the Annapurna Circuit, Ghorepani-Poon Hill, Mardi Himal) — sit outside the affected river corridor and are described by tourism operators as unaffected and open.
Langtang is the one trekking region close enough to the disaster zone. Syafrubensi serves as the gateway to Langtang and it has been severely affected so it deserves a direct, current check before departure rather than an assumption either way, according to multiple trekking-industry advisories.
What this means practicallyFor a Kathmandu-Pokhara-Chitwan road trip: expect diversions and longer travel times because of the Krishnabhir closure, or consider a domestic flight instead. For anything routed through Rasuwa, Nuwakot or toward the Tibet border: do not assume a road is passable because it was open last month — check directly with the Nepal Tourism Board or a local operator before departure. For Everest, Annapurna, Pokhara, Chitwan or Lumbini: these remain part of normal travel programs, though monsoon-season conditions generally (unrelated to this specific flood) mean landslide-related delays are still possible anywhere in hill and mountain districts through September, before conditions dry out into the autumn trekking season.
