Nepal to waive some climbing permit fees for two years
This measure seeks to attract mountaineers to lesser-known areas, thereby stimulating tourism and economic growth in these underdeveloped regions.
Conversely, the permit fee for Mount Everest will increase significantly from $11,000 to $15,000 in September this year.
Climbing permit fees are a vital revenue stream for Nepal, with mountaineering and trekking collectively accounting for over four per cent of the national economy.
The newly fee-exempt peaks could potentially serve as training grounds for a proposed law requiring climbers to conquer a 7,000m Nepalese peak before attempting Everest.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Pandemic hangover and 'corporate greed' blamed for Vegas tourism collapse
A Sin City regular has blamed a pandemic hangover and 'corporate greed' for the tourism collapse in Las Vegas. It comes as figures from the city's convention and visitors bureau show tourism is down 11 per cent, while overall visits to the Nevada city are down six per cent this year. Meanwhile, the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino - the oldest gaming hub in the city - has announced it is replacing human dealers with electronic games. The former Vegas regular took to Reddit explaining they believe the tourist boycott is down to two things - 'the pandemic' and 'corporate greed.' 'I booked a trip and was on the strip the day some of the casinos reopened (after the pandemic) and it was dead, of course, but it was on it's way back,' the user wrote. As companies attempted to claw their way back into the green following the Covid-19 shutdown, the user blamed the city's decline on corporations relying on 'the common man' to recoup their losses. After having been a 'Vegas regular for over 20 years', they saw how prices were soaring following the pandemic. 'Resort fees. They started implementing them and every year they go up,' the user wrote. 'Even if you are getting comped rooms, some of these places have nightly resort fees ranging from about 40-80 bucks. 'That gives you access to Wi-Fi and usually the spa. Both things that were previously free.' The user said that food prices also took a noticeable increase, where buffets used to be served at around $20 to $30. 'Now there are fewer buffets to be had and they are all around 50 and up,' they wrote, noting that 'most are brunch only so forget about a full dinner buffet.' The gambling tables also had increased minimum bets if you wanted to sit and play. 'Pre-pandemic you could walk into most strip casinos and find 5-10 dollar tables and most would be full day and night,' they wrote. 'Now you find a rare low minimum table anywhere on the strip and most have jumped to 25-50 minimum.' But the gambling tables came with another issue as staffing numbers were also reduced, according to the user. With fewer staff comes slower service, which they said is a 'huge problem' when gambling. 'Most gamblers like to take advantage of the free drinks, but if they have to wait 20 minutes or more for a waitress to even come by and notice them, then another 20 for her to make it back around, that's a problem,' they wrote. Yet, even if gambling is not your cup of tea, other forms of entertainment have also seen prices 'skyrocket.' 'Shows and events, prices have just skyrocketed for shows,' the user wrote. 'Prices everywhere have gone up but most people can't justify paying 2-300 a ticket for a show per ticket.' They also noted that parking fees can cost a driver around 30 to 50 dollars per day if they wanted to 'park at a hotel where they were actually staying.' After having spent the last 20 years going to Vegas 'four times a year like clockwork', the user has since cut their trips down to two and even considered skipping their second trip for this year. 'People need to just avoid Vegas until they realize they have to adjust prices that reflect what middle America are willing and able to pay,' they said. Another frequent visitor said they had been 'five times since 2012, always for business' but agreed that corporate greed was a major issue. 'The first time I came, I was pleasantly surprised that I could just wander from casino to casino, having a beer here and there and some nice food in between. 'Enjoy the spectacle, hang out with colleagues and watch the crazy people,' they wrote on the Reddit thread. 'And at the end, I wasn't completely broke, or maybe even won a couple $. Now, it seems like the only reason to go to a certain casino is if you have a hankering for a specific restaurant. 'Everything else is generified and looks the same. The prices for food are astronomical... the corps have realized that people will pay anything, because once they are on the Strip for an event, they have no other options.' Another user chimed in and agreed that corporate greed has been one of the biggest factors keeping Vegas from coming back to life. 'I live in Vegas... this is 100 per cent what I've heard the locals say is the problem too,' they said. '[Big companies] talk about how they're optimizing for the high rollers now but [there] just aren't that many. 'And as they lose money they continue to raise prices to make up the difference but that just locks out even more people.' Caesars Entertainment, which runs eight casino resorts and one non-gaming hotel on the Strip, reported a 3.7 per cent year-over-year decline in net revenue in the second quarter of 2025, according to SEC filings. From April to June, the company brought in $1.054 billion in Las Vegas, down from $1.095 billion in the same time period in 2024.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
$80 bill for six beers lays bare rip-off Vegas prices as Sin City battles to restore tanking tourism sector
A six-pack of beers for nearly $80 has shed a shameful light on the tanking tourism industry in Las Vegas. A horrified visitor posted the staggering $76.99 bill for a bucket of six Coors Light while partying at the Flamingo pool in the middle of the city's famed Strip For 24 cold ones the bill was an extortionate $290.00 - a markup of nearly 15 times its usual $20. 'I can't keep going here,' the partier who filmed his menu said as he listed off the pricey options. Cases of Topo Chico or Truly hard seltzers, which typically cost around $30 to $35, were also sold for almost $300. For drinkers who want a mixed cocktail, a large Bloody Mary would set them back $40 per drink. And six shots, a total of just nine fluid ounces, costs $99.99 in the party hub on the Vegas strip. Food options at the pool weren't any more reasonable, with a chicken tender platter or a cheeseburger slider plate running up to $89.99. 'Get ready to spend if you want to go to the Go Pool,' the shocked partier added. It comes after a new report to Las Vegas's Convention and Visitors Authority warned the number of airline passengers arriving at the city will continue to plummet in the coming months. The tourism body was told in the report by Ailevon Pacific Aviation Consulting that capacity rates at the gambling hotspot's Harry Reid International Airport are forecast to drop dramatically in the second half of 2025. They warned the number of inbound passengers will plunge to around 95,000 seats per day for the rest of the year - a worrying prediction that represents a 2.3 per cent fall from 2024 numbers. The decline is largely fueled by an 18.5 per cent drop in traffic from Canada, which typically provides the largest share of international visitors to the Nevada city, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. The loss of Canadian tourists has canceled out gains from other continents, including a 31.7 per cent increase in airline capacity from Asia and a 21.6 per cent increase jump from Europe excluding the United Kingdom. The report cemented a steep decline in tourism to Las Vegas, with previous statistics from April showing it was losing upwards of 300,000 visitors per month since the start of 2025. The number of Canadian passengers flying to Las Vegas fell to an average of 2,412 per day this year, according to the report. This has been blamed by some on the election in January of Donald Trump and his threats to make Canada the 51st state. Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority president and chief executive Steve Hill told the Journal he was hearing from many angry Canadians about the president. 'There's an awful lot of the anecdotal conversation around Canadians being angry and upset about tariffs and talk around annexing the country,' he said. 'We've seen consumer confidence numbers drop pretty significantly over the past couple of months.' In May, the World Travel & Tourism Council reported that the U.S. was set to lose $12.5 billion in international visitor spending this year. 'While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the "closed" sign,' Julia Simpson, the council's president and chief executive, said in a news release at the time. Another reason for the recent drop in Las Vegas is due to a maintenance issue with Spirit Airlines, the second busiest carrier at Reid International Airport. The maintenance issues have grounded 50 planes in Spirit's fleet, which has significantly reduced its capacity, according to Ailevon Pacific Aviation Consulting senior director Joel Van Over. 'They have an issue with their (jet) engines,' Van Over said. 'They have to pull that engine off the plane, fix the cracks, put it back on the plane, and that whole process takes about 300 days. 'So obviously they can't just do a plane a year because it would take them 100 years to get that done.'
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Pakistan will not restrict mountaineering expeditions despite the recent deaths of climbers
Pakistan has issued no warnings or restrictions for mountaineering expeditions in the north, an official said Sunday, despite the recent deaths of climbers. Climbers were well aware of the harsh weather and all the other risks and challenges, said Faizullah Faraq, a spokesman for the government of Gilgit-Baltistan, the northern region home to some of the world's highest mountains. 'Despite that, they willingly accept these challenges and come here to attempt these summits.' Chinese climber Guan Jing, 37, was the latest person to perish on one of Pakistan's mountains. She died last Tuesday after being hit by falling rocks on K2, the world's second-highest peak known for its treacherous slopes and extreme weather conditions. Rescue teams recovered her body on Saturday. Her body was still in the mortuary of the Combined Military Hospital in Skardu on Sunday. Contact has been made with Chinese authorities in Islamabad, and 'now it is up to them to make further decisions in this regard,' said Faraq. Jing's death occurred several weeks after German mountaineer and Olympic gold medalist Laura Dahlmeier died while attempting Laila Peak in the Karakoram mountain range. Bodies of foreign climbers who die attempting to summit mountains in Pakistan are typically recovered at the request of their families. But if the family declines a rescue, the remains are left at the spot where the climber died. Faraq said authorities were trying to provide climbers with better infrastructure, rescue facilities, security and a friendly environment. Mountaineering expeditions are the backbone of the local economy, bringing in millions of dollars in direct revenue. A large number of people work on these expeditions from May to September, feeding their families for the whole year with these earnings, he added. Hundreds of climbers try to scale mountains in northern Pakistan every year. Accidents are common because of avalanches and sudden weather changes. Last August, two Russians spent six days stranded on a remote peak before they were rescued. Gilgit-Baltistan, in Kashmir, has been battered by higher-than-normal monsoon rains this year, triggering flash floods and landslides.
