Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including the 8,849-meter Mount Everest. According to the latest announcement from the Director of the Nepal National Tourism Board, Narayan Prasad Regmi, the permit fee to conquer Mount Everest will officially increase to $15,000, equivalent to a 36% increase compared to the current price. This decision marks the first time the climbing fee has been adjusted since a decade ago.
"The climbing permit fee has not been adjusted for a long time. We have just updated the fee," Regmi told Reuters, without elaborating on how the increased revenue would be used.
Nepal's decision to increase Everest climbing permit fees by 36% has just been announced.
The new fee will come into effect in September and will apply to the peak climbing season from April to May. Climbers who choose to conquer Everest via the historic South East Ridge or South Col route, where Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay made history in 1953, will have to comply with the new fee. Especially during the peak climbing season from April to May, climbers will have to pay $15,000 for a permit.
The mountaineering industry, especially the conquest of Mount Everest, plays a very important role in boosting the economy of Nepal. Income from permit fees and related activities has created a stable source of income, contributing to solving the country's socio-economic problems, while creating jobs for thousands of local people.
This means the journey to the top of Everest will be more expensive.
Permit fees for the less popular climbing seasons, September to November and December to February, will also increase by 36%, to $7,500 and $3,750, respectively. Regmi explained that the fee adjustments were necessary after years of no change: “The permit fees have not been reviewed for a long time. We have updated them now.”
The increase, which has been discussed since last year, is unlikely to reduce the number of climbers, expedition organizers said. “We expected this increase,” said Lukas Furtenbach, founder of Furtenbach Adventures in Austria. “It is an understandable move by the Nepalese government, and I believe the additional money will be used to improve safety and environmental protection on Everest.”
Every year, hundreds of climbers attempt to summit Everest and other peaks in the Himalayas. But returning climbers report that the mountain is becoming drier, rockier and with significantly less snow, possibly due to climate change and other environmental changes.
