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Himalayan Tour Operators Absorb Cancellations as Disasters Reshape Routes
Tour operators in the Himalayas are absorbing cancellations and rerouting trips as climate-driven disasters expose the fragility of the destination itself. An avalanche at a base camp on September 27 killed at least 15 people, weeks after flooding devastated tourist towns in Nepal.
An avalanche at a Himalayan base camp on September 27 left at least 15 people dead as staff were fixing ropes ahead of a trek on the Himlung Himal peak in Nepal's Manang district.
The avalanche came about a month after flooding downstream from Nepal's Langtang national park, in the Himalayan border region with Tibet, which devastated towns and popular tourist areas.
The flooding was caused by glacial rock and ice collapsing and registered a tremor magnitude of 5.2, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It carried a huge mass of water, mud, rock and ice through the valley.
Glaciers in the region are melting 65% faster than they were a decade ago, according to a report published after the Nepal-Tibet flooding. As the ice retreats, it leaves behind unstable lakes.
For tour operators, climate is already a business risk they grapple with day to day, absorbing cancellations and rerouting itineraries around closed or damaged terrain. The larger exposure is the destination itself, as the disasters reveal its fragility.