Trekking Agencies’ Association of
Nepal (TAAN) and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) have agreed in principle to put in
place online-based mechanism for issuance of Trekkers’ Information Management
System (TIMS) cards for trekkers.
According to TIMS Officer Navaraj
Kafle, trekkers can post their information and itinerary on the online database
from anywhere in the world. “Once the detail is posted, trekker will get a
unique code number. They can collect the card by producing the code number at
TAAN Secretariat, NTB and counters specified by them.
At present, trekkers traveling in
groups need to pay US $ 10 per person as TIMS fee, while FITs are required to
pay US $20 per person.
Kafle said the new mechanism will
make issuance of TIMS cards easier and free of hassles. “As we will have detailed
itinerary of trekkers in the database, it will help us ascertain their
whereabouts whenever needed,” Kafle said, adding, “It will help us promptly coordinate
rescue missions if a trekker is in trouble. Also we will get exact statistics
of trekkers traveling in different parts of the country in just a click.”