Starting from April 1, Nepal has officially banned solo trekking for foreigners and made it mandatory for them to take a licensed guide along. Nepal Tourism Board, which is in charge of promoting the country’s tourism, declared the new decision on March 3. The primary reason behind this decision was to create more employment opportunities in the country and make trekking safer. Nepal’s mountainous regions are known for sudden weather changes and deadly accidents caused by avalanches, blizzards and high-altitude sickness. The cost of search and rescue missions that the country carries out everytime a solo trekker goes missing accounts for a bigger monetary share. Earlier, tourists could trek without guides by obtaining a route permit and a basic trekking permit that foreigners required for adventure tourism, but after the latest amendments in law, tourists need to hire a licensed guide as a requirement to acquire the permit. The price of the TIMS permit has also increased to INR 2,000 per person.