TIMS as another name for a new TRC???

[Soshin]

http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/content.php?nid=23451

Please read especially:

"Since Nepal holds immense prospects for tourism promotion, especially eco-tourism, we have to tap them," said Minister Gurung while opening the 10th TAAN (Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal) National Eco-Trekking Workshop at the Administrative Staff College, Lalitpur, today.

He called for increasing budget for the tourism sector. "Despite being an important sector, tourism has received less than 0.5 per cent of the total budget this year," he said.

Laying focus on the promotion of eco-tourism, he said that trekking and mountaineering were Nepal's indigenous businesses and the country should have the patent rights on them.

Disclosing some of the policy reforms recently taken by the government, he said that the Cabinet has already passed the working procedures of the Trekking Information Management System (TIMS) that would help control illegal operations in the trekking industry."

Sounds perfectly like another TRC with another name.

Should we make some noise?

Namaste,

Soshin

[yakshaver]

Some really good ideas for initiatives in the article above... If half of them come to fruition in any significant way, it would be great.

But TIMS sounds like the old TRC, on face value. It's main intent, according to the minister, is to control illegal operators, rather than to have some record of tourists on trek... Pretty unsubtle. It all depends on how it will be implemented. The main issue most trekkers had with the old system if that it seemed to prevent people to trek solo, without any help, if they so wished. Whatever the Nepali Government decides, I hope this particular feature of the old TRC does not make it into any new regulation.

On the positive side (provided anything is done soon, and done well... - unlikely...) are:

a) the proposal to increase the budget for tourism. If this happens to some healthy degree it would be great. Nepali politicians do not bother to invest in tourism themselves, they are much too clever for this (it is easier to make money of foreign aid grants and their distribution, easy money). Therefore they have not been interested in any investment in tourism and it's infrastructure. This is why I caution people to easy on criticisms of hotel/guest house owners and trekking agency owners residing in Nepal.
They receive no help from the Government (not even indirect like infrastructure, cleaning up of famous areas like Pasupatinath etc) and try to do the best jobs they can in face of gross indiference.

b) lowering Dolpo and Mustang trekking fees will be great news, provided the fees will not be bigger than, say, the ACAP fee

c) the Eco tourism scheme, and cleaning up the trekking/climbing famous areas is obviously another good idea.

d) the Nepali residents abroad scheme, to promote tourism for Nepal sounds also good. But I would like to see the scheme extended to non-Nepalis as well. For example, Ipromoted trekking to Nepal, and probably brought more trekkers there over the last 6-7 years (the hight of the Maoists problems) than all schemes put toghether... If this is an exageration it is only sleight.

I want to see if anything happes at all, in the near future, before getting too enthusiastic.