Sustainability on Social Areas and Development
For over 30 years Mountain Lodges of Nepal have provided warmth, hospitality, and guidance on the trekkers’ journeys. Honoring the traditions of mountain hospitality, we continue to strive for an excellent stay.
On our mission to redefine high-end tourism along Nepal’s great Himalayan trails, we cater to tourists who bring quality back to our communities and seek meaningful journeys.
By working with a conscience for our activities in Nepal’s high regions, we strive to positively impact the communities around us. Whether that means prioritizing the employment of local manpower for our lodges, or the locally-sourced food consumed in our lodges. Our eco-friendly lodges and resorts work to mitigate adverse impacts and protect these sacred hills, via increased energy efficiency, solar power, on-property organic gardens, and waste reduction.
78.35% of our employees originate from the nearby communities surrounding our lodges in the Everest and Annapurna regions. Our aim is to increase that rate to 90% in the coming days. In addition to hiring, we provide the employees with relevant training to help develop their skills. This will enable them to engage in income-generating activities in the long run. Our initiative to hire local residents has helped to alleviate the area’s severe unemployment problem. Also, to enhance the efficiency of women and create equal employment opportunities throughout the region, our workforce includes 33% of women.
In the areas where companies tend to pay their staff less, we have implemented Labor Law in our work ecosystem, ensuring that our staff has all the benefits secured by the Government of Nepal.
Serving food that’s not only delicious but also healthy and sustainable!
With the farm-to-table concept, we source most of our ingredients from our own garden or from nearby areas through partnerships with local farmers to ensure that the produce is fresh, free of harmful chemicals, and contributes to supporting the local economy. Such acts of sourcing locally have helped us to reduce our carbon footprint significantly
It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved – our guests get to savor farm-fresh flavors while supporting a responsible food system.
Our guests become an integral part of responsible tourism during their stay here. One of our guests contributed financially to building the entire trekking route from Thame to Kongde in the Everest region which has helped to ease the daily lives of people in the nearby community. We have been contributing to maintaining the route timely ever since to keep the trail in its optimal condition.
Furthermore, in the Annapurna region, a rice mill and water tank were built under the grant provided by our guests and the active mothers’ committee of Tomijung village.
In our journey in uplifting the local communities around us, we include activities in our itinerary that are entirely led by the inspiring women in the Ama Samuha (Mothers’ Committee). Guided by the locals it gives an opportunity for our guests to have an up-close experience while also securing a sustainable income opportunity for them.
We support our community through actions taken both, at the individual lodge level as well as through the Pasang Lhamu Foundation, which has provided health, legal, and educational support to women and under-served groups since 1993.
Mountain Lodges of Nepal participated in the Pasang Lhamu Foundation’s “Learn to Earn” Barista and Service Training program in Lukla, giving free vocational training to local mountaineers and their families, impacted by the COVID pandemic.
We provide a rent-free space to the foundation to run a café in our Lukla lodge where all the earnings from this café go to the foundation.
When the entire world is facing a severe crisis of climate change, we realize the importance of every action we take and its consequences equally. We are all guardians of the Himalayas. At Mountain Lodges of Nepal, we take that role seriously and it’s our mission to build an ecosystem of responsible and sustainable tourism by uplifting the communities and reducing carbon footprint whenever possible.
We hope you will join us on our development mission—perhaps our most ambitious journey.
