KATHMANDU, Nepal- The government is mulling over increasing the expedition royalty fee for the Mount Everest. The possibility of new royalty fee on the individual basis is almost sure as a committee formed to recommend on the revision of mountaineering royalty and adoption of necessary measures to make Nepal’s mountain tourism productive has suggested raising the expedition royalty fee for Mt Everest on individual basis.
According to a source at Ministry of Tourism, the panel suggested increasing the royalty fee for Mt Everest climbers to $11,000 per person per expedition by eliminating the group royalty system.
At present, the royalty for Everest ranges from $15,000-70,000 per expedition depending on the number of members (maximum seven) and the route. For an expedition that may have a maximum of 15 members (group), a fee of $10,000 per person is charged.
For Nepali climbers, it has suggested charging Rs 75,000 per person per expedition, or a royalty waiver through the Cabinet decision, to climb the Mt Everest.
Identifying 35 issues and recommending urgent reforms to make Nepal’s mountaineering sector more organised, the committee has also suggested the royalty amount for other peaks should be based on the height.
The 10-member committee led by Purna Chandra Bhattarai, joint-secretary at the Industry Division of the Tourism Ministry, submitted the report to the ministry on Thursday. The report has also suggested for the uniformity in the royalty system of the government and the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
