Travel, trekking agents’ bank guarantee to go up
Environment, liaison officers in firing line

By Navin Singh Khadka

Kathmandu, Jan. 23: If a new plan under government-consideration comes into effect, there will be no environment officers accompanying tourist groups like they have to now in certain trekking areas nor will there be liaison officers with mountaineers climbing peaks within 6,500 metres. For this freedom, however, trekking agents will have to pay a price – increased bank guarantee for their operation.

The move toward cancellation of the provision of environment and liaison officers comes in the wake of widespread complaint from trekking and mountaineering entrepreneurs that the two types of manpower had never worked and that they had only complicated matters in trekking business.

"The unsatisfactory performance of environment and liaison officers is one of the reasons why we believe the provision should be scrapped off," said an official with Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. "We have recommended our higher ups for the cancellation and the decision will come out very soon."

The two slots are being done away with since many of the one-time controlled trekking and mountaineering zones – that tourists were allowed to visit only with environment and liaison officers respectively — now have the basic tourism infrastructure, officials say.

If the idea gets underway, visitors need not take along with them environment officers to Upper Mustang, Upper Dolpa, Humla and Manasalu – the controlled areas group visitors are allowed to visit paying royalty.

Trekking agents resent environment and liaison officers because those who have "performed" these regulatory roles so far are not professionals knowledgeable about conserving ecology. They are few hand-picked clerks from the officialdom – mainly from the Department of Immigration, trekking agents say – who in most of the cases do not even accompany tourists to the trekking and mountaineering areas.

"Our clients feel that they are being robbed while paying between Rs 50,000 and 60,000 to environment officers while their output is nil," said Suman Pandey, President of Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN). "Tourists feel there is no return of investing on this manpower actually provisioned for environmental protection."

Trekking operators do complain even when the two authorised personnel are with the tourists in the trekking trails. "They are the biggest menace we face while we are with our clients in the trekking areas," said Pandey. "These are the persons who would not go if there is slight adventure during the trip and they are the ones demanding luxury if they at all accompany the group."

With feedback like that on the two blacklisted positions, if the government calls them off, majority of trekking agents will surely call it "good riddance." There, however, also are concerns if the fragile ecology of the controlled zones would be under risk if visitors’ movement in these areas is not regulated. "Of course, there is a risk there," said Rabi Jung Pandey, a tourism expert with Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Project supported by United Nations and Dutch and British Governments. "In the name of getting rid of the environment and liaison officers, there should be no compromise on environment protection."

MoCTCA officials said they are aware of the potential risks and therefore, they claimed, they are trying to make trekking agencies responsible. "One control mechanism we are developing is by increasing the bank guarantee of trekking agencies so that we can penalize them if they are found to be operating in the field irresponsibly," the official said.

Under the existing 20-year old regulation, trekking agencies need to pay Rupees 25,000 and travel agencies Rupees 50,000 as bank guarantee for their registration. What would be the revised version of these guarantee money is not known. "This is being worked out for now," said Shankar Koirala, Joint Secretary who heads the Industry Division of the MoCTCA.

There are above 400 registered trekking agents in the country – a pioneer in adventure tourism — catering to trekkers and mountaineers who comprise of 30 per cent of the annual inbound visitors who are in declining trend in recent years from the highest record of 500,000 in 1998.

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