Is overtourism a problem in Nepal?

Can Nepal handle more tourist arrivals?

Nepal wants more tourists. The country set lofty goals of 1 million tourists in 2018 and 2 million by 2020. A pandemic in the middle of all this brought an abrupt halt to these numbers. Nonetheless, keep in mind that in 2014, Nepal had about 790,000 tourists. In 2025, it was announced that instead of a year of tourism, Nepal would celebrate a decade of tourism until 2035. Big words, but it seems that’s all they are. Nothing beyond pats on the back has been announced to actually help tourists enjoy Nepal more.
These days, Nepal keeps pushing for more and more tourists to arrive. Meanwhile, one must ask: How is the infrastructure holding up? Does one even exist? And more importantly, how is “tourist satisfaction”?

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, long-term popular tourist destinations like Iceland, Spain, and Thailand have all been in the news, struggling to cope with too many tourist arrivals in specific areas and the detrimental effect of tourism on local culture—the very reason we visit in the first place.
Is Nepal paying attention? Following the devastating earthquake of 2015, did Nepal take this “opportunity” to “reset” tourism standards throughout the country as it repaired and rebuilt itself?

The “official” number of tourist arrivals in Nepal

Year	Tourist Arrivals	% Change
2024	1,147,024	13.02%
2023	1,014,885	65.1%
2022	614,869	307.3%
2021	150,962	34.3%
2020	230,085	80.7%
2019	1,197,191	2.1%
2018	1,173,072	24.8%
2017	940,218	24.8%
2016	753,002	40%
2015	538,970	31%
2014	790,118	0.9%
2013	797,616	0.7%
2012	803,092	9.1%
2011	736,215	22.1%
2010	602,867	18.2%

Data: Wikipedia, which vaguely corresponds to Nepal Tourism Board’s tourist data (they used to have a link to the numbers, but it now redirects to a spam site … that says a lot)
Let’s break those numbers down by country, and things really get more interesting. Unfortunately, despite overall numbers for 2018 being released, individual country breakdowns have not been published.

Rank	Country	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013
1	India	160,832	118,249	75,124	135,343	180,974
2	China	104,664	104,005	66,984	123,805	113,173
3	United States	79,146	53,645	42,687	49,830	47,355
4	United Kingdom	51,058	46,295	29,730	36,759	35,688
5	Sri Lanka	45,361	57,521	44,367	37,546	32,736
6	Thailand	39,154	26,722	32,338	33,422	40,969
7	South Korea	34,301	25,171	18,112	23,205	19,714
8	Australia	33,371	25,507	16,619	24,516	20,469
9	Myanmar	30,852	25,769	21,631	N/A	N/A
10	Germany	29,918	23,812	16,405	18,028	22,263
11	Bangladesh	29,060	23,440	14,831	21,851	22,410
12	Japan	27,326	22,979	17,613	25,892	26,694
13	France	26,140	20,863	16,405	24,097	21,842
14	Malaysia	18,284	13,669	9,855	18,915	18,842
15	Spain	15,953	12,255	6,741	13,110	10,412
16	Canada	15,105	12,491	8,398	11,610	12,132
17	Netherlands	13,393	11,453	7,515	12,320	10,516
	Total Foreigners	940,218	753,002	538,970	790,118	797,616

Interestingly, after 2018, the Nepal Tourism Board stopped releasing the numerical breakdown per country—in line with when people began to question the breakdowns.
Keep in mind that India and Nepal have an open border with no visas required. In 2016, Nepal started offering Chinese tourists free visas on arrival. Everyone else has to pay for a visa on arrival in Nepal. 2011 was Nepal’s “last year of tourism,” which drew massive international attention. Yet, did it see an increase in tourist numbers? Not really.

It should be noted that many independent travel operators feel the numbers for 2011/12 are not at all correct regarding tourist arrivals and were, in fact, much smaller.

Like every country, we need to ignore the pandemic blip of 2020–2022. In all cases, the one glaring problem that stands out is that the percentage increases are based on the previous year’s numbers. This is quite a “business-minded” way of doing things, whereby there’s always pressure to increase a “number.” All the same, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) seems to have shot itself in the foot in 2023 by introducing a ban on solo trekking. The numbers in 2018–2019 are higher than in 2024. No, it’s not just the recovery from the pandemic. If the 24% increases are to be believed, then there’s a sizable percentage of tourists not coming to Nepal anymore … could they be the solo trekkers who can’t trek anymore?
In terms of percentages, surely being a percent closer to or further from “maximum tourist capacity” would be a better indicator of tourist numbers rather than continuously chasing the infinite “year-before number”?

It’s a bit of a no-brainer. If there was a 40% increase in 2016 based on the previous year and “only” a 24% increase in 2017, you can just imagine the whips coming out in a tourism meeting about why 2017 was not a 41% increase. Percentage increases like this are perhaps not the best way to measure or improve anything other than as a short-term financial incentive, which history shows burns everything in its wake. Keep in mind that the Nepal Tourism Board is a “marketing organization,” not the official Ministry for Tourism. Knowing that, like all marketing companies, things begin to make sense now when it comes to inflated numbers.

Tackling tourist numbers in Nepal

What is the maximum number of tourists Nepal can handle? This is the number the percentages should be aiming for to avoid overtourism and indeed undertourism.
To do this, Nepal needs to bring in some nationwide standards: environment, accommodation, food, health, safety, transport, road standards, quality of service, etc. It’s a long list that could continue. I put environment first for a very good reason. Nepal’s primary attraction? The environment. What’s the biggest issue with the environment in Nepal today? Pollution. Nobody likes a polluted environment. Worse yet is a polluted environment being sold as pristine.

So, that’s not getting things off to a great start. Let’s start with something easier: accommodation.
There are three “grades” of hotels in Nepal: star, tourist, and homestay. Bizarre gradings, I know. It’s already confusing with no real written definition easily available that describes any of them. Unlike many international locations, there’s no real “star” rating for hotels in Nepal. There’s a 7-star hotel in Nepal, but it’s “7-star” in name only.

Look at the European standard of hotel ratings. It works pretty well. Copy it. Nobody is going to complain because it works in general. With that type of rating, one knows the real capacity of hotels and accommodation. You can even divide up the demographics with budget, mid-range, and high-end options.
Taking into account the above paragraph, now you know how many people are booking what, at what cost, when, where, and how. This equals valuable information. Standards are raised. And, voilà! You know how many are actually booking hotels. It’s just a snippet of one sector that can help with analyzing the numbers.
Moreover, tourists will finally know what they are paying for rather than a hotel owner who just “feels like” their hotel is 4-star and slaps a sign up. In 2018, a committee was set up to look at this and, of course, hold many meetings to “discuss” it. Nothing much came of it.

How do you work out how many tourists Nepal can handle?

Let’s start with the very basics we just tackled: accommodation. If you look at that and how hotels handle capacity, there are some good numbers and methods already widely proven and available.
What is the maximum capacity of a hotel? One would think if a hotel has 100 rooms, the maximum capacity is 100. Smart hoteliers know their maximum capacity is actually around 80 rooms in a 100-room hotel.

With 80 fully occupied rooms, the hotel is operating very efficiently, turning a profit, providing a high level of customer satisfaction, and has the capacity to take a few more guests, change rooms if some guests are not happy, and indeed take on walk-in customers without turning anyone away.
It’s a valid starting point that can be applied to other tourism sectors.

How many hotels do you have, Nepal? What are their ratings/services? What are their capacities? Find this out, and you can actually start making some statistical plans.
There are 1,105 official hotels in Nepal that have a total of 38,242 beds. That, to me, seems like a low number. But it’s official (source: PDF)—again, after a few months, the link to “official” numbers “disappears.” No surprise. Let’s move on with those numbers that were listed in it.
The problem doesn’t end with just one number like this, though. You still need to cater to a wide variety of tourist types.
After all, if you have 1,105 hotels and 90% of them are 1-star, and you have an influx of high-end tourists making up 25% of your total, you’ll have some mighty annoyed wealthy tourists not happy they can’t get a hotel with a spa, etc.

That’s where proper hotel grading comes in handy.

Likewise, and this is important, if you have budget travelers who cannot afford rooms, then the same problem exists. In fact, it’s a little worse. The budget traveler who cannot find a room due to too many tourists and not enough budget rooms suddenly has to pay more for a roof over their head. The result? The extra money they now have to spend on accommodation is taken out of their souvenir, food, or site-visit budget.
Then there’s the current case for “Community Homestays,” which are being run by a corporate business rather than an actual community. See scams in Nepal for more. Again, something tourists don’t particularly like.

A case study for overtourism in Nepal

It’s not just about hotel capacity …
Far from it. The number one concern listed at the start? Environment. How is Nepal’s number one lakeside resort township of Pokhara doing? Take a look at 10 years of change in Pokhara. Did someone read this? Maybe so. In 2018, over 200 hotels in Lakeside Pokhara were deemed illegally constructed and should be demolished (source source). By 2024, nothing has actually been demolished or physically changed.
Nepal is not alone in this. But other countries are tackling it.

Countries with overtourism problems:

• In the Philippines, pollution from overtourism became so bad that the country’s number one resort island, Boracay, had to be closed (source source). Just to add insult to injury, the six-month closure revealed the problem was much worse than originally thought, and the closure was extended.
• In Thailand, the famous island from *The Beach* has been closed to let it recover from too many tourists (source).
• In Peru, they’ve started issuing timed tickets to control the number of tourists visiting Machu Picchu (source).
• In Colombia, they’ve been giving tourists (and locals) environmental training before allowing them to visit some sights (source).
• Over 10 years ago, it was suggested that Mount Everest in Nepal be closed to allow a cleanup to take place (source). The closure didn’t happen, and now even mountaineers want tourism there to slow down (source).

Well done to some of these countries for tackling and admitting these overtourism problems. In some ways, it’s amazing this happened.
As an example, the Philippines is a country often criticized for corruption and blatant disregard for regulations. Moreover, the uproar from tour agents, hotels, and tourism officials has been huge. The pressure to reopen this world-renowned resort island is staggering. But it’s not being reopened. Instead, the investigation is uncovering more and more irregularities, and the closure has been extended.
If you look at many of these countries on this list, a lot of them are economically challenged. In fact, Colombia just emerged from a civil conflict and started protecting its tourism infrastructure and environment from the start. So, it would seem this is not the issue.
It seems the idea of one’s environment being finite and fragile is sinking in elsewhere.

Back to Lake Phewa in Nepal.
Over 300 hotels drain their sewage into Lake Phewa (source). And what’s happening about it? Well, there’s a new Chinese-built international airport in Pokhara being opened to bring in even more tourists to Pokhara.
Can anyone tell what’s going to happen? One look at Phewa Lake from the northern hill, and you can see how it has been shrinking. Pretty soon, Phewa Lake will be known as Phew Pond.

Water shortages have plagued Kathmandu for years …

Can Kathmandu cope with extra tourists when, for the past 10 years, it has struggled to provide bathing or washing water to hotels? What about locals who struggle for water when the tourists come?

Boreholes dry up frequently in the winter. Things are better now that electricity is nearly 24 hours, but with more electricity come more water pumps. There was a new water supply coming online, but … again, it’s embroiled in controversy.

As it stands, Kathmandu’s water has a decidedly yellow tint to it and has been like this for years. It’s ground dirt and rusty pipes. Obviously, this is not drinkable water by any stretch of the imagination, and tourists, along with locals, should rely on bottled water.
What happens when a town runs out of water because of too many tourists? Well, ask Shimla, a cash-strapped Himalayan town in North India (source), which asked tourists to stop coming in 2018 because they had no water for themselves.

Who’s counting domestic tourist numbers in Nepal?

Nobody, except … hotels are now told to take tourists’ passport details for “statistical” purposes, no doubt … let’s not mention GDPR. But who’s logging the Nepali visitors? Any hotel I’ve been to certainly has a registration book, but it’s more for internal than external data processing.
Since 2015—a year that keeps coming back—the number of Nepali domestic tourists hitting up popular “resort” locations has been intense, to say the least. Let’s call them “weekend warriors” more than culture seekers.
Back in 2008, Lakeside in Pokhara was a ghost town on New Year’s Eve (Gregorian). Today? Well, you’ll be paying double and having a hard time finding a place to stay. The same goes for Nepali New Year. Who’s staying in the hotels? Nepali domestic tourists.

It’s great that Nepal now has a sudden explosion of domestic tourism. But it, too, is adding to the infrastructure weaknesses Nepal suffers from.
All of a sudden, Nepal has two types of tourists seeking out different things, which more often than not clash.
It’s not a cultural event either during the New Year period. There are no big parades or fireworks taking place. It’s bars, food, nightclubs, and drinking. That’s it. That’s why the domestic tourists go. They can go to a place outside their city and drink, party, etc., with nothing being “reported back home.”

Okay, I get it. This happens in many places around the world. But the flip side is that during these periods, you’ve got international tourists who are being bombarded by drunks, noise, and high prices, which scratches off the façade of Nepal being an idyllic place.

Yes, again, this happens all over the world. But you’d think Nepal would have learned from the “others” and avoided cashing in on cheap money.
How do you tackle it? Well, I certainly wouldn’t make the “international” tourist spots of Thamel or Lakeside 24-hour zones (which is the plan). Perhaps separating the zones would result in everyone being happier, including many Nepalis who also want to enjoy the quieter side of their country.
Here’s Thamel as an example: a wonderful 1,000-year-old part of a city, known for trekking stores, budget guesthouses, souvenir stalls, and lots of signs. Today, Thamel is changing rapidly. Budget guesthouses have been run out, boutique shops are springing up, and there are rumors of 24-hour nightclubs and bars being allowed.

Ten years ago, the more modern Durbar Marg was the place to be for parties. Why not move the bar scene back to a place where noise and revelry are more easily managed?

It’s a glimpse at why one might be very worried about the international overtourism scene, too. In places like Barcelona, locals have no qualms saying, “Tourists come here to just do everything they can’t do in their own home countries.” Sound familiar?

If places like Thamel and Lakeside start encouraging late-night parties and 24-hour bars, international tourists might just join in a little more than expected, as has happened elsewhere.
If this is what’s headed and encouraged in Nepal, the effects will be devastating.

It’s not just the cities, either. Between 2018 and 2024, the trekking lodges around Ghorepani (Poon Hill) were inundated with Nepali trekkers—so much so that international tourists couldn’t get rooms. Why? Nepali tourists can afford to “outbid” them for a room. When it gets crowded, the set price may well be 1,000++ rupees for a room. But the Nepali domestic tourist has no issue slipping in an extra 1,000–3,000 rupees to secure it. Why? Nepali domestic tourists have much more disposable income than the average international tourist, who’s just paid for flights, visas, permits, guides, and two-tier pricing. So, Nepal has a huge new domestic tourist problem it’s not ready for in the least.
Like to know the other trekking towns overrun by domestic partygoers? Jomsom, Ghorepani, Australian Camp, Ghandruk, and Tatopani are all swamped during Nepali festivals. This is one of the reasons I’ve written alternatives in my Trekking in Nepal guidebook.

Nepal keeps pushing for more Chinese tourists

Let’s not beat around the bush here. Chinese tourists have a bad reputation around the world. So be it. The USA had one, too. On the ground, when you talk to shopkeepers and hoteliers who aren’t into PR, the answer is that the Chinese are just rude and disrespectful. Colombia’s idea of “tourist training” comes to mind before setting off to an idyllic spot.
Chinese tour buses now chug into Pokhara’s Lakeside, Bhaktapur, Patan, and even into the jungle surrounding Chitwan National Park. The Chinese tour leaders with little colored batons arrived in 2016. Never before had I seen a full-on Chinese tour group in Nepal. It was rather unsettling.

Massive groups crowded around sacred temples. Selfie sticks were like swords of yesteryear as people battled to make a V-sign with their fingers before shuffling off to the next temple. Don’t bother with your tripod when these tours are around—you’ll literally be bowled over.

Okay, so let’s look at the numbers again. In 2014, there were 123,805 Chinese tourists. In 2017, there were 104,664—a couple hundred more than the year before. All this at the cost of free visas?! In 2018, the Nepal Tourism Board even launched a Chinese version of their website … this before a Nepali text version.

Asking people why they focus on Chinese tourists brings up rather dull answers: “The Chinese have more money.” “No more Western tourists are coming.”
Wait, what? No more Western tourists? Have a look at the official tourist numbers list again. USA tourists in 2014: 49,830; 2016: 53,645; and 2017: 79,146. That’s just the USA. If you add up all “Western” countries, you get over 248,000 people coming to Nepal in 2017 from much farther away, who are also paying visa fees—more than double the number of Chinese by far.
Moreover, those numbers, while down, did not dip as much during 2015, unlike the Chinese ones, which tanked … ditto during the pandemic. I guess the Chinese tourists are not so loyal.
What about regional Asia, excluding China and India? In 2017, it’s nearly 168,000—again, a lot more than China. But Nepal keeps focusing on China. Why? All this, despite numbers from collective regions dominating the arrivals much more. The answer has nothing to do with tourism. One quick walk around Jyatha in Thamel on a Saturday morning, and you’ll see Chinese babies being pushed along by grandparents and every other type of non-tourist Chinese enjoying the day off. The answer is, of course, economics, with a dash of turning a blind eye to the obvious big Chinese businesses buying out local ones.

Overcrowded bottlenecks in Nepal?

Who’s been to Chitwan over the past few years and been stuck on a bus for 10 hours (a 5-hour journey)? The road is in bad condition, with a constant yearly mantra of “it’s being fixed” and “it’s fixed now.” Add more busloads of tourists to this road?

Lukla Airport. In 2018, Lukla (the start of the Everest trek) experienced something it constantly suffers from: delays. Too many tourists, not enough planes, and unpredictable weather. In September and October, the number of flight delays—by days, not hours—was staggering. Everything was being blamed, from bad weather to airport congestion. However, helicopters at inflated prices were able to fly with no issue.

The result? Well, in May 2018, it resulted in a well-connected Indian tourist asking for help from the Indian government to rescue them (source). While “weather” was to blame, the real crux is the highly profitable Nepal quick-fix helicopter “scam” going on. $250 per person going up, but on this occasion, where demand was high, the price shot up to $600. Not good.
This incredible push for more quick in-and-out tourists to trek results in acclimatization problems and transport issues. Lukla is a high-altitude airport. The weather is unpredictable. These two things grate against the high turnover of profit-minded tour agencies. Get ‘em in, get ‘em out … there’s a delay, and they’ve got an international flight they can’t miss? Charge them more to get out.

Tourists who wait it out are then subjected to days of sitting in an airport, followed by days of overcrowding on the trails when the planes finally get their chance to take off and there’s a rush at Lukla.

Quite frankly, if Kathmandu and Lukla airports cannot handle 1 million tourists, what hope is there for 2 million?

This is where the new airports in Pokhara and Lumbini are meant to come into play. Only, virtually no airline wants to fly into either airport because … there’s no demand.

Kathmandu’s pollution. The capital city in the idyllic green valley is ranked 5th among the world’s most polluted cities (source). How did this even happen? It’s a valley surrounded by mountains, which doesn’t help. But the real issue is vehicle pollution and brick smelters. Incentives to buy cars increase constantly. The traffic jams are monumental. The lack of education about pollution is incredible. Despite vast potential, Kathmandu has already become a bottleneck year-round and is becoming an eyesore to many.

Pokhara’s Lakeside. It’s already been covered here regarding the lake’s pollution and the tour buses rolling in and out. Pokhara is more spread out than Kathmandu, so you don’t feel the effects as much. The bottlenecks come in the form of the area not being able to manage its once-pristine environment. New hotels appear every three months. The lake gets greener, and the mountains get hazier every year.

When a country with a unique identity in the world ignores overtourism, it soon loses its identity.

It becomes “just another country” filled with souvenir stalls, tour agents, and annoyed locals forced out of homes due to rising rents.

Overtourism, noise, disturbance, and crime in Nepal

Over the past two years, many hotels are now putting bars on windows. There’s a reason for that. It might not be written down anywhere, but just ask the hotelier why, in such a safe place, windows are being barred up.
Nepal’s saving grace for many years has been that it’s extremely low on crime. However, with the push for more tourists, things are obviously changing.

Where there’s an abundance of tourists gathered with their guard down, there will be people seeking opportunities.

Bag snatches, lost passports, mobile theft—it’s surprising to hear this in many hotels these days. Yet very little makes the news. It’s still in the embarrassing stage of things, whereby nobody likes to admit there is a problem. This despite the poor tourist standing with no bag, wallet, or passport, wondering what just happened.
Many tourists on holiday like to do what they can’t do at home. Thamel and Lakeside are starting to show signs of this with late-night reveling and alcohol consumption—the very things that locals protested against in Barcelona when they told tourists to go home.
Local markets in Kathmandu? Locals shoo away tour groups and no longer want photos taken. Why? Tours stop to take photos of them like at a zoo, while locals can’t even buy food because of the groups taking up so much space.

Overtourism is not just a problem in Nepal

Is this just a “bash” on tourism in Nepal? No. In recent years, tourism pollution has been a problem in many other countries.

• Remember the movie *The Beach* with Leonardo DiCaprio? Well, Maya Bay, where it was filmed, closed due to tourism damage (source: Guardian).
• The Gili Islands in Indonesia are beset by rubbish dumps, while Bali has ground to a halt due to traffic (source: Guardian).
• Boracay was the Philippines’ number one tourist destination; in 2018, it was closed for six months due to tourism pollution damage (source: ABS-CBN).
• In the USA, National Parks are considering restricting entry because too many people are visiting them (source: Yale).
• Anti-tourist protests have emerged across Europe (source: Reuters).
• Japan’s transport and peace have been disrupted in its bid to increase tourist numbers (source: Japan Times).

Of the above, Japan seems to be what Nepal is trying to mirror. If Japan can’t get it right, what hope is there for Nepal?
The answer is surely not to more than double the current number of tourists.

Overtourism solutions in Nepal

They are all bad ideas aside from one. Let’s briefly look at the bad ideas that keep popping up.

Responsible tourism

Never going to happen. It’s a buzzphrase that the industry has been touting for the past few years. Tourists coming for 14 days come in many shapes and sizes. In the past, trekkers were generally well-behaved and environmentally conscious. Today, with shorter stays, helicopter travel, etc., many simply come to party or have little regard for Nepal’s cultural heritage. Stepping on the head of Buddha for a V-photo has never been so popular in Nepal.
If you really want responsible tourists, let them pass an exam for that visa first. But that’s never going to happen, is it?

Cheap flights

Stopping cheap flights is never going to happen either. Oil prices are low, yet airlines still claim they don’t make enough cash compared to the high prices a few years ago. It’s a for-profit industry that wants to fill those seats at all costs. And people will keep paying.

Travel like a local

No. Tourists are not locals. It’s a nice tourism buzzphrase and no more. In Nepal, the idea has been completely flipped on its head. Tourists stay with locals and make-believe they are doing the country good by distributing wealth and reducing environmental impact. “Travel like a local,” staying in homestays, all sounds so nice.

The reality is that most of these places are being run by tour companies, and they charge more for the privilege. Take a look at Panauti in Kathmandu. Lovely place. Great hotel there, too. Community homestays? Yep. They’ve even got a giant banner sign, website, and a branded logo … They cost more than the hotel, and you wouldn’t believe what the locals have to go through to get a guest to stay via the “silent” tour company. Sigh, next catchphrase, please. AirB … never mind.

Make Nepal more expensive

What? India and Thailand are both cheaper than Nepal to travel to. The latter has far better standards, too. This fallacy that Nepal is a great budget destination needs to stop. Cheaper than New York? Sure. Can you still squeeze out a USD $2 meal? Absolutely, but make sure you eat in a good budget restaurant in Kathmandu to do so. But have you added up all those extras yet? Visas, trekking permits, tourist taxes, service charges, VAT … the list goes on.

The well-connected travel agencies and tour companies would love to boost prices, as it’s easier to profit from a few wealthy, controlled package tourists than an independent traveler who avoids these expensive tours and does it alone. Sadly, these few operators are the ones shouting the loudest.
Come back here in 2035, and you’ll probably find Nepal has introduced some form of “tourist tax” to cope with “overtourism” and preserve the environment. The irony is not lost.

Better marketing and education

See responsible travel. The people marketing Nepal (NTB) are the very ones trying to bring more tourists in. It’s a numbers game, and they will not stop. As for education? There are plenty of master’s degree-holding tourism entrepreneurs who want more tourists, too. Why? They make money or are paid to bring in more tourists … at any cost.

Can tourists be better educated about Nepal? Sure, absolutely. But do you really see a Nepali tour similar to Colombia’s, where tourists are given a training session first? No. When you have a rampaging domestic tourist threatening to close a hotel down for scolding them about making too much drunken noise during the night, there’s an issue. Or when a hotel is terrified of a bad TripAdvisor review because they kicked an international tourist out.

Protecting overcrowded areas

These are the very areas that tour companies want more tourists to visit so they can profit from them. How about protecting old buildings from tourists? Well, in Kathmandu Durbar Square, fences were finally put up around them, and the result? Nobody obeys, and the fencing damaged the area. Aside from that? Indra Jatra, anyone?
Nepal has a living heritage. People walk, talk, sleep, and eat on heritage. Blocking it off won’t help. But there is another solution that can help.

Tackling overtourism with technology

Amsterdam and a town in Italy use an app to tell tourists what sites are overcrowded (source). It seems to work well for independent tourists. It could also work in Nepal.
The big naysayers brushing it off will be the tour companies. They certainly don’t want their clients looking at an app that says, “Durbar Square overcrowded—avoid.” But for the independent tourist, it could be a holiday saver.

If Durbar Square is overcrowded between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., then let’s go to Swayambhunath. Or let’s take a heritage walk on the way to Kathmandu Durbar Square to avoid the crowd.

It’s one of the reasons I created the new and original Kathmandu Valley Heritage Walks guidebook. There’s a lot more to do than just the “big attractions.” With a book like this, you can discover places nobody else knows about. With an app that shows you what’s crowded or not? You could double the fun.

The problem with such an app in Nepal? Logistics and maintenance. Traffic can’t even be monitored effectively on the roads of Kathmandu, let alone tourist sites. It wouldn’t be hard, though. Every time a tourist enters a site and buys a ticket, it’s logged, and the numbers are added to an online database. Likewise, when the tourist leaves, they are logged out. No personal information is needed—just a number to know how many are there. The app picks it up and lets everyone else know.

It could even work with Lukla. What’s the capacity of Lukla today? What’s the weather? Potential for delay? Tourists are independently informed and ready. Instead, such information is only shared among guides and airlines—the very people dictating the costs.

Taking some responsibility for tourism in Nepal

Did you know that back in 2007, I didn’t even want to let anyone know about this gem called Nepal? I didn’t want the crowds to come crashing in and spoil places I had found here. A pipe dream that many people will recognize from their own travels.

The reality is that if you don’t say it, someone else will. Hopefully, when you do say it first, you’re telling the right people who will appreciate it more, and others will protect it the right way. If not, the big for-profit tour companies will eventually come along and say anything and everything just to sell a tour.

Back in 2014, I saw this problem escalating. The same old big popular sites were being promoted. Crowds of tourists kept being told where to go and when. It was getting uncomfortable.

After the 2015 earthquake, few tour operators bothered to redo their promotional material. So, tourists arrived expecting to see these great temples, trekking trails, and pristine vistas. Yes, many are untouched, but some of those temples used in promotional material are gone, some trekking trails are now overcharging, and those pristine vistas are hazy.There are so many other things to see and do in Nepal. But tour operators don’t seem to like updating their material.

I prefer a much more honest approach. Why?
Being honest means a tourist knows what to expect. Happy tourists = good feedback = free advertising. It’s a win-win for all.

One of the reasons my guidebooks to Nepal have such positive feedback from travelers is that I’m upfront and honest about how things are.

Example: Despite the giant tour posters showing the pristine Durbar Square, Patan in 2025 is still covered in scaffolding. I let people know this so they won’t be disappointed. I also let them know they can watch real Nepali artisans, stone masons, and carpenters rebuild these temples traditionally. Not interested in this? No problem—give Patan a skip and visit Thimi on the way to Bhaktapur instead. There’s no scaffolding, and the place is filled with old temples for an hour or so.

Likewise, Everest for trekking? Maybe. If you can ignore the $450 domestic flights vs. the local $150. Hmmm. Why not take a Mardi Himal Trek or an Annapurna Base Camp trek instead? It’s cheaper with great views. Ah, they’ve not got the bucket-list status of Everest Base Camp. Yes, Nepal’s golden goose continues on—even though the locals have basically kicked national officials out of it—no more TIMS cards needed.

I’m constantly working on finding and adding more places. During the book launch last year, we used the theme “Discover the Undiscovered.” Likewise, you can also “rediscover” places. Tour groups skip over so many incredible sights. Nepal is like a treasure trove. I wanted to create books that show you maps to these treasures.
I wanted to find places that rivaled the big popular sites with ease. I did this and also updated the big popular sites. Sooner or later, everyone else will discover these places. However, it will be a while before the big tour companies can cash in on them. In the meantime, these incredible places are there waiting for you to discover them before anyone else catches on. Discover these places and more in my guidebook to Nepal.

Can overtourism be fixed in Nepal?

Like any problem, you’ve got to admit the problem exists first before being able to fix it.

Nepal has yet to admit there is a problem.

There is a lot of money involved in the tourism industry. Such industries are hardly going to let it all go. This is the main problem.
During the mass reconstruction over the past few years, it would have been a great opportunity to address and put in place solutions for the future influx of tourists to Nepal. It did not happen.

The likely scenario will come in what was addressed above. Nepal will likely take the easy route out and simply raise prices for everything, as they did in the middle of the peak season in 2018. The few big, well-connected companies will profit, and those who can afford to visit the country will certainly enjoy themselves as fewer people arrive. Think Bhutan.

The other scenario is the one mentioned earlier. Technology will bypass these big companies and enable tourists to look after themselves. One look at an app to see busy hotel areas will tell you to stay elsewhere. Overbooked restaurants will pop up, and you’ll know to go down the road instead. Busy attractions will tell you their capacity based on tourist feedback, and you’ll know to go somewhere else that morning.

Is the latter a perfect solution? No. But it’s got potential to help tourists enjoy Nepal no matter how many tourists are visiting it which seems to be the ongoing mantra.

Nepal is in a unique position. It is already showing signs of overtourism. However, it’s still a country with pristine mountains filled with great peaceful treks so long as you know which ones to take and when. You can step back in time with heritage walks around ancient mystical temples, so long as you again know when and what to visit. Or you can venture into wild jungles still filled with exotic wildlife. Alone, as a couple or in a group. It’s all still possible without the big tour groups.

For now, there are bottlenecks forming but it’s far from overwhelming.

When Nepal starts to hit (the real figures of) 1.2 – 1.5 million annual visitors, then the onus will likely be on the tourist, to be more aware that they may not be so alone anymore.

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