March 5: Tourists visiting Nepal for hiking and trekking will no longer be allowed to go to their destinations alone. The decision of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) to suspend the provision of Free Individual Trekker (FIT) now mandates tourists to have a guide while trekking.

The board is closing FIT from April 1. The board has amended the Nepal Tourism Act-2053 and Trekking Information Management System Operation Guidelines-2066 to make it compulsory to have a guide.

With this decision taken on Friday, foreigners going for a trek now have to take a guide along with them through a trekking company.

Chief Executive of NTB Dhananjay Regmi said that this decision was taken to guarantee the safety of the tourists during their trip.

According to Regmi, both tourists and guides going on a trek will be insured. At present, the tourists who go on foot-trails travel alone with the 'Tourist Information Management System (TIMS)' card. However, after seeing the problem of tourists getting lost, the board decided to prohibit tourists from going on a trek alone.

"This matter has been discussed and we reached a conclusion that Nepal should be made a safe tourist destination in every aspect," he said.

Former President of Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) Khem Bahadur Subedi said that the board had taken a good decision and emphasized on its implementation.

He said that as this decision will increase employment and also give equal importance to the safety of tourists.

“The board must pay attention to the implementation of its decision,” he said.

According to Subedi, the number of trekking companies in Nepal is currently more than 2,000.

After the board implements this decision, the employment and income of trekking guides in Nepal will also increase.

According to the data of the board, before the onset of Covid-19 pandemic, 46 tourists used to arrive in Nepal annually as 'Free Individual Trekkers (FIT)'.

NTB Director Maniraj Lamichhane said that after the board decided to discontinue the TIMS card issued for FIT, it will now distribute the same type of TIMS card to all tourists. Previously, those going on a group tour would pay Rs 1,000 per person and those going on a solo tour would get a card by paying Rs 2,000 per person.

According to the board, now the fee of TIMS card for all tourists will be Rs 2,000 per person. In case of citizens of SAARC countries, it will cost Rs 1000 instead of the previous fee of Rs 200.

Suman Prasad Parajuli, president of Unitravels, the safety concerns of Nepal's mountain tourism has been addressed by the NTB’s deision. According to the Nepal Tourism Statistics - 2021 prepared by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the number of tourists visiting Nepal to spend holidays is the highest followed by tourists who come here for adventure tourism (trekking and mountain climbing).

According to the data, the total number of tourists who arrived in Nepal for trekking in the year 2019 before the Covid-19 was 197,786. In the year 2021, this number was 15,549.