KATHMANDU, Dec 25: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTA) has proposed waiving the royalty for mountaineers climbing 11 mountains in view of attracting more tourists in Nepal to make Visit Nepal Year 2020 successful.
The mountains proposed for a climbing royalty waiver include Choyu, Sarphu II, Gyalzen Peak, Pkhar Khang, Kande Himchuli, Nampa II, Dhaulagiri, Kanchenjungha main, Ganesh Himal, Putha Himchuli and Saipal.
Before making a formal decision to this effect, the ministry had sought information on the state of royalty collected from these mountains in recent two fiscal years from the Department of Tourism. The department has already provided the details of royalty fixed for the aforementioned mountains and the royalty collected from them in the last two fiscal years.
Over Rs 770 million collected in royalty from mountain climbing...
“The ministry had asked us to compile the state of royalty collected from certain mountains and we have already provided the details to the ministry,” said Mira Acharya, director at the Department of Tourism. “Hope the ministry will take a formal decision soon.”
The government has set a target of welcoming two million tourists in Nepal in 2020. To lure more tourists, the ministry has come up with the plan to waive the climbing fee for mountaineers in the upcoming spring.
The Department of Tourism charges $1800 as expedition permit for Choyu, Dhaulagiri and Kanchenjungha, $600 for Ganesh Himal, Putha Himchuli and Saipal, $400 for Kande Himchuli and Nampa II, $250 for Sarphu II, Pokhara Khang and Gyalzen Peak.
This is the royalty fixed for the spring season. Climbers, however, have to pay half the royalty in the autumn season.
