Giving back to the local community:
Our Community Service Project
Besides its objective to function as a specialist adventure and cultural tour operator, Encounters Nepal is committed and dedicated to serving the nation as well by paying back to its local community. To enrich the objective, Encounters Nepal has initiated a solely private project named "ENCOUNTERS NEPAL COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAM". With the motto; "Development through Tourism", the goal is to let rural people of Nepal benefit from tourism. This program would help the needy & deprived people especially in some of the rural parts of the country by different forms of community service oriented projects. Encounters Nepal wishes to contribute a part of its profits to support the project and also hopes to get contributions from tourists groups, individuals; national and international institutions etc. who seek to make a meaningful contribution towards Nepalese Rural Communities of whom some live in dire straits – virtually, and help in playing a vital role to take the country a step ahead for sustainable development.
Environmental Contemplation
The Wonderful Environment of the Himalayas is also an extremely fragile one. Increasing population density and the number of trekkers threatens to destroy the very beauty which attracts us in the first place. At Encounters Nepal, we are extremely environmentally conscious and aim to minimize our impact as much as possible.
As deforestation is one of greatest environmental threats we are facing today, we do not encourage camp fires and use kerosene for cooking as an alternative fuel to wood. We also discourage trekkers from using wood-fuelled hot showers in lodges along the way. Many lodges, however, now provide solar hot showers, a far more eco-friendly alternative.
Garbage disposal is another major problem and some of the busier trails can, at times, appear strewn with litter; disturbing eco-systems which are harmful to flora & fauna. Our staff members are well motivated towards Eco-friendly practices. We carry out all our garbage, apart from that which can be safely and easily burnt at the campsite.
Our aim is to help protect and preserve this beautiful environment for future generations of trekkers & their families to enjoy.
The Environmental factor: A concern that ‘EncountersNepal’ takes very seriously...
Sustainable Tourism is an issue that ‘Encountersnepal.com’ foresaw from its birth. We wanted to empower the local village folks through all our trek programs in the areas that we visited with our guests. It has always been our quest to combine the two vital issues of ‘Sustainable Tourism’ with our ‘Eco-Tourism’ & realized that this could only be accomplished with the help of local NGOs & government initiatives; by totally involving the local villagers residing in clusters throughout the trails we move in at all the major trek destinations in the country. ‘Encountersnepal.com’ plans to mobilize Farmer Producers to grow cash crops for supply to teahouse lodges found on the trail & to take training in the preparation of cheese, coffee, organic vegetables, & produce wooden crafts for sales to tourists & in the local markets of the country. This would make good leeway for income generating purposes & develop the villagers economically as this would result in better social perspectives for the community as a whole. Likewise, the government can also participate by providing micro-loans to villagers residing in tourism based areas so they could start different small-scale businesses & independently support themselves & also simultaneously develop their own villages by introducing safe & drinking water projects & also learn how to manage water resources that could also be used for their crops; in this way, the local inhabitants could also supply water to teahouse lodges & enhance the supply of water to all for a minimum charge which would generate precious revenue. This would also be the first big step in making major contributions to Poverty Alleviation. It is in these precise areas that ‘Encounters Nepal.com’ will be playing a major role in the days ahead to make life pleasant & beautiful for all; the local community & for our honored guests who visit these wonderful destinations for holidays that give them lifetime experiences never forgotten.
A better life for Employees: ‘EncountersNepal.com’ cares for its Employees in special ways...
At ‘Encounters Nepal.com’, we are very selective & choosy about the employees we hire. This has been our very strength from the early establishment of our company. For us this is a mandatory affair because services that we provide our guests must always be of the highest order.
‘Encounters Nepal.com’ has a special way of caring for its staff. We ensure that all our staff is insured for & this gives them the confidence to take risks & perform better, especially on the trails with our guests.
The safety of clients is always foremost in our minds at all times. All of our staff goes through orientation programs at least once every month to ensure that they are well up to all issues related to tourism. It is absolutely important for all of our staff to understand the cultural aspects of Tourism development when active in this profession. All of our field staff which includes guides & porters are always given refurbished trainings with the latest requirements required for mountain ventures; as sometimes they must escort our guests to some of the most challenging terrain on earth. We also encourage female guides & generally give them first preference to escort our guests into the mountains; but this is only after we check out their credentials & put them through our training systems. We give our staff the freedom they need & allow them to participate in trade unions without effecting the company’s operations. We seriously promote equal opportunities among all of our staff & pay them overtime charges when they work above the regular office hours. The satisfaction & confidence of our staff is crucial to our operations in order to ensure that our clients are given the kind of services that is a cut above the rest.
This is a part of ‘EncountersNepal’s Social Corporate Responsibilities as it’s a highly competitive market in Nepal’s tourism apparatus today; we encourage this because its our guests who benefit the most & this makes us a little more special & above the others because for tourism is not only a business but also a profession that’s related to human relations based on friendship & genuine love for our fellow beings, especially for tourists’ who travel thousands of miles to visit our country & this awakens our conscience to make sure that our guests are provided with nothing less than the best, at all times whenever, wherever they holiday in Nepal.