Nepal’s Department of Immigration has fined a travel agency and four Mexican nationals after they trekked in restricted Lower Dolpo without the required permits, and has separately fined another trekking agency and initiated action against a guide over an attempt to take two Belgian tourists towards Dolpo Buddha Rural Municipality without permits. The department announced the two actions in Kathmandu on November 4 and November 6, highlighting separate cases involving travel in the Dolpa region without the required authorisation.

Two separate permit cases

In the first case, the department took action against a travel agency and four Mexican nationals who had trekked in Lower Dolpo, an area identified as restricted, without the necessary permits. The action covered both the agency and the foreign visitors. The available details do not identify the agency or the individuals, or state the amount of the fines.

The department’s second action concerned a different trekking agency and a guide. They were involved in an attempt to take two Belgian tourists towards Dolpo Buddha Rural Municipality in Dolpa without trekking permits. The agency was fined, while action was initiated against the guide. The reported account describes an attempt to take the tourists towards the area; it does not say that they completed the trek.

These distinctions matter: one case concerned a trek that had taken place in Lower Dolpo, while the other involved an effort to take tourists towards a destination without the required permits. Both cases involved agencies arranging or facilitating travel, but the department’s reported actions differed between them.

Permits and responsibility

The cases underscore that the permit requirement applies to trekking in the restricted area, and that the department’s actions can involve more than the foreign visitors. In the Lower Dolpo case, the agency and the four Mexican nationals were fined. In the separate case involving the Belgian tourists, the agency was fined and the guide faced action. The reports do not provide further detail about the legal process or the specific basis for the different measures.

The incidents also put the role of trekking operators and guides in focus. In both cases, an agency was subject to a fine. A guide was additionally named in the second case, where the reported conduct was an attempt to take tourists towards Dolpo Buddha Rural Municipality without permits. No further information was provided about the guide’s identity or what action the department initiated.

What is known about the department’s actions

The Department of Immigration announced the cases in Kathmandu on November 4 and November 6. The reports identify the nationalities of the tourists involved - Mexican in the completed Lower Dolpo trek and Belgian in the attempted trip - and specify the destinations or areas connected to each case. They do not provide details about the travel dates, the names of the agencies, the exact fine amounts, or whether further proceedings followed.

The two actions concern permit compliance in and around Dolpa, but the available information does not establish that the cases were connected. They involved different agencies, different groups of tourists and different circumstances. One involved four people who had trekked in restricted Lower Dolpo; the other involved two tourists who were to be taken towards Dolpo Buddha Rural Municipality.

The department’s announcements put the permit issue squarely at the centre of both cases. The first report on the action involving the Mexican nationals and coverage of the separate agency case describe enforcement against trekking arrangements made without the required authorisation. The reported actions include fines for agencies and, in the first case, the foreign trekkers themselves.