Kathmandu : The death of 18 climbers on Mount Everest in last week’s earthquake triggered an avalanche in the middle of the trekking season in Nepal, but it has not discouraged adventure buffs. They continue to register for trekking permits in the ongoing trekking season even as Nepal struggles to limp back to normalcy.
The Nepalese government, too, in inclined to ensure that climbing to Mount Everest resumes in a matter of days.
The Director General of Nepal’s Tourism Department, Mr Tulasi Prasad Gautam, said, “We have had a series of consultations with the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal and the Nepal Mountaineering Association. We had two meetings today. We are assessing the situation and will take a decision on resumption of climbing to Mount Everest soon.’’
‘‘We have a trekking season from March to May, followed by the Mount Everest climbing season in May, followed by trekking and high altitude expeditions from September to November,” he explained.
Gautam said that though the earthquake is bound to have an impact on the tourist volume, the tourists would not stay away from Nepal for too long. “It will take us some time to bring things back on track but I don’t think that last week’s earthquake will discourage tourists from enjoying nature, culture and adventure that Nepal has in abundance to offer. Phuket bounced back after Tsunami. “
But the Tourism Chief said that reports about tourism being the top revenue grosser for Nepal were wrong. “Tourism contributes four per cent to Nepal’s GDP. Its impact on employment generation is good. It is not a major contributor to economy but its potential will grow in years to come. Consider the figures. Every year, 800,000 people come to Nepal. A tourist’ average spending a day is 43 USD and average duration of stay is 12 days.’’
But what is worrying is that the destruction of 90 % of the seven world heritage sites and nearly 100 heritage structures is an irreversible loss and will impact tourism. ‘‘Pashupatinath, Swayambhunath and Lumbini are the major religious places frequented by foreigners. Apart from these, Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, Patan, Pokhara and Gorkha, which have suffered desctruction, are major tourist attractions,’’ pointed out the tourism chief.
The Vice President of the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal, Keshav Pandey, too, was optimistic that the climbing season will revive in the next three to four months. “Suck natural disasters can happen anywhere. Of course, it is a shock for Nepal but we don’t have any option but to move on.”
Ang Tshering Sherpa, President of Nepal Mountaineering Association, said that this year, more than 800 persons have registered for climbing Mount Everest. These include 347 foreign climbers and more than 500 Nepalese Sherpa climbers. This is more than those who had registered for climbing during the corresponding climbing season last year.
Apart from Mount Everest, 414 peaks are open for mountaineering expeditions. The Island Peak, just five km south east of Mount Everest, is very popular with the climbers.
