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.”
