Ouch - Cost hikes for National Park and Wildlife Park Entry

[rich]

Just so you can't say that you didn't know...

For full story see:-
http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Move+afoot+to+hike+wildlife+ permit+cost+&NewsID=271959

Quote
The new fee structure was proposed considering the flow of tourists in specific national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. The hike in fee to gain entry into Sagarmatha and Langtang national parks is more than other national parks as the tourist flow is concentrated in those parks while other parks, including Rara and Khaptad, attract fewer tourists.

“The idea is to lower the concentration in some national parks and increase tourists in the parks where the flow less,” added Dhakal.

At present domestic tourists have to pay Rs 20, SAARC tourists Rs 200 and others Rs 500 to enter Chitwan National Park. After the proposed hike Nepalis will have to shell out Rs 100, SAARC nationals Rs 600 and others Rs 1,500. For Bardiya, Shuklaphanta and Parsa, Nepalis will have to pay only Rs 50, SAARC nationals Rs 500 and others Rs 1,000 to get into the sanctuaries following the hike.

“Chitwan is overwhelmed with tourists. But Bardiya and Shuklaphanta lack tourists. There is a need for a strategy to ensure even distribution of tourists,” added Dhakal.

Sagarmatha National Park permit costs Rs 1,000. But after the proposed hike, foreigners will have to part with Rs 3,000.

[markayaker]

Was a little concerned to say the least when i noticed the entry fee was being raised to 3000 NPR that was until i discovered that it is still only £26 british pounds. I would happily pay double that if it helped with any sort of clean up and maintenance of the park

mark

[thesilvertops]

The problem is that the money collected just disappears. The next time you meet a maintenance man on the trail to EBC I bet he's asking for donations to pay for the work. It's the same with the ACAP fee - lots of staff collecting pretty good salaries but little spent on the trail.

[Boulia]

So no incentives for regular trekkers for the Tourism year and opportunistic price hikes wherever possible.

I pray for those going this year that the predicted number doesn't eventuate as there is no way the infrastructure can cope with those sort of numbers.