How To Choose The Best Trekking Company In Nepal?
Almost every popular trekking website or travel agency in the country offers the same travel packages. So, choosing the best trekking company in Nepal is a hard task.
Again, it is always a good idea to check if a trekking website in Nepal is legitimate or not.
So, here we will find out both. I will guide you through some of the best tricks and techniques to decide which trekking agency is right for you. This will also help you decide if the company is genuine.
How to Know if the Trekking Company You Choose is Legit or Not?
There are many independent guides or unregistered trekking profiles in Nepal. They may trick you with their fancy websites or the itineraries they create. International portals also allow a guide to create his or her itinerary and work independently. If you are trekking with them, always ask for their license. The Tourism Board issues a legitimate license to qualified mountain guides.
Here’s a sample of the latest mountain trekking license.
Traveling with unlicensed profiles or companies may jeopardize your best interests and safety. Trekking at a high altitude sometimes invites dangers. In the worst scenario, it will be your fault if you use an unlicensed trekking agent.
You need a TIMS permit to go on any trek in Nepal. And, TAAN, the allowed agency for TIMS Cards, only issues those IDs in the name of trekking companies. So, either way, look for a registered trekking company in Nepal.
Hence, I urge you to check if a company is legally registered as a trekking company under the laws of the Nepal government, licensed by the ministries, the Nepal Tourism Board, and a member of tourism associations such as TAAN.
Check Legal Documents on the Company’s Website
Popular trekking companies in Nepal showcase their legal documents on their websites. If you find their legal papers, consider whether the hiking company is licensed to operate. If you can’t find one, they will be listed in the legit directory of travel agencies such as “TAAN’s General Members“.
Here is a sample of some legal documents:
Company Registration
TAAN Certificate
So now you are looking for a firm to safeguard your trekking journey. Every firm will claim that they are the best in the business. So, how do you decide that the trekking or travel company you choose is legit in the industry?
Examine your social presence.
Social media like Facebook and Instagram are popular in Nepal. But checking trekking companies in Nepal on other social profiles like VK, Xing, etc. will be a bad idea. Pinterest is also quite popular in the travel industry in Nepal. So, you may visit the social profiles of companies to decide whether to trek with them.
The trekking websites in Nepal will have these social profiles on their webpage. So, visit their website and head towards these social profiles. Social media accounts might have a low number of followers, but you will have a general idea if they operate or not.
Pinterest Profile
Read Online Reviews of Trekking Websites in Nepal
Local businesses might have a few online reviews. But you will have detailed reviews that will give you a general idea of how the travel business has treated past customers. Popular review websites for trekking agencies in Nepal are TripAdvisor and Google, and some also use Trustpilot. Don’t look into the number of reviews, as Nepalese are not so dedicated to collecting reviews. Look at the quality of the reviews there.
Check for a landline phone number and a business address.
Almost every hiking website in Nepal has a business address and invites someone to visit them. They do also have a landline phone number registered under their name. So, you can contact them. Otherwise, search for the company on Google if it has a verified address as mentioned on their websites. If you still doubt, visit them at their official address when you are in Nepal.
Note: Most of the offices are small and within a few rooms. If you visit them, don’t expect it to be very fancy or an enormous structure with many employees. Clients rarely visit trekking offices in Nepal, so they are designed only to facilitate work and might be away from the main areas.
On their website, you can find information about the company and photos.
Every company will have an “About Us” section on its website. Thus, by exploring those sections, you will get to know who is behind the company (team members), how the company started, and what its conditions, policies, or missions are. If you’re still skeptical, look at the LinkedIn profiles of the company’s executives. Here’s my profile.
Look for decent content on the trekking company’s website.
The best or most popular trekking companies in Nepal have decent content on their websites. Don’t expect the website to be very UI-friendly or have the best designs. But, the contents are updated regularly. So, checking out content on their websites will let you know if the agency is good for you or not.
Check how Nepal’s hiking company accepts the payment.
The best trekking companies will ask you to pay by card or transfer money to their bank accounts. This way, your fund will be secured. If an organization mentions that they only accept cash or cheque payments, then you might have to think twice.
Check our secured payment policy.
In the end,
With all the above methods, I am pretty sure you will distinguish between a fake and a legitimate trekking company in Nepal. There’s nothing called the best. Every organization works towards making itself the so-called best. So, while planning a vacation in Nepal, choose a legitimate trekking company and have fun.
