Since the peace agreement in 2006, tourism has made a strong come-back in Nepal. Although this is great news for all directly or indirectly involved in Nepal’s tourism industry, we tend to forget that if not carefully managed, tourism can also damage the natural beauty and rich cultural heritage of the country. Through responsible practices, tourism businesses can minimize the impact of tourism on the environment and maximize employment and income-generating opportunities for local communities.

Responsible Travel Nepal (RTN) is a concept designed to motivate and help Nepalese tourism businesses integrate and apply responsible practices into their company ethos. In so doing, companies will understand how a responsible approach can help them reduce operational costs, develop more authentic products and establish cooperative relations with nearby communities.

Marketing support in the form of business to business linkages, access to market intelligence and promotion in national and international markets will be granted to all RTN businesses that successfully demonstrate increased responsible standards within their businesses. RTN businesses will be evaluated based on international certification standards whilst also keeping in mind limitations in budget and capacity of small-scale companies.

Responsible Travel Nepal will be open to all sorts of tourism businesses; five star hotels, guesthouses, trekking agencies, tour operators, travel agencies and adventure companies. RTN will help international tourists and tour operators differentiate between Nepalese tourism companies who are genuinely safeguarding the environment and are socially responsible, and those who are claiming to be responsible for marketing purposes only.