What Nepal's tourism planners have to work out is whether at such low prices, tourism is worth the cost to the environment. The Annapurna area has shown there is a way to maximise benefits to the local community by ensuring that tourism helps protect the environment. The same cannot be said of similar regions across Nepal's western border in India. The Badrinath circuit, a pilgrimage tour amidst very high biodiversity, sees over one million visitors annually. But local benefits are negligible.
Imports are high and outsiders control nearly half of all trade.
The environmental impact is adverse, especially on basic infrastructure. In Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh, a mountaineering, trekking, skiing, and pilgrimage destination, there is no linkage between natural resources and community development. Further west in Pakistan, the Kalam Valley in the North West Frontier Province is a resort that sees approximately 100,000 visitors every year. Yet over 80 percent of the income leaks out and the environmental impact of visitors is high. The Hunza Valley, in northern Pakistan fares a little better, with about 50 percent of the tourism income staying in.