Paper short abstract:

Workers from marginalised populations in Nepal are dependent on the Everest tourism industry. Yet, the region is experiencing severe ecological impacts due to pollution and climate change. This paper examines the desire for sustainable livelihoods within an increasingly unsustainable industry.

Paper long abstract:

The number of tourists arriving in the largely underdeveloped Khumbu region in the eastern Himalayas, Nepal, has increased between 2016 and 2018 (Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, 2017). Further, the increase in tourists has influenced the demand for workers in the region's Mount Everest tourist industry. Contrary to the visibility of Khumbu Sherpa who have been traditionally associated with Everest mountaineering, significant numbers of guides and porters are from the Tamang and Rai ethnic groups, populations from other parts of Nepal who have historically remained at the economic margins of Nepali society (Fisher, 1990; Frydenlund, 2019; Nepal, 2005; Ortner, 2001).

In this paper, I examine the material and immaterial infrastructures of exchange that make up the 'work' of the Mount Everest tourism. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in the town of Namche on the Everest Base Camp trek with guides, porters, guest house managers, cooks and attendants, I argue that the Everest tourism industry forms the basis of an intricate network of exchange, reciprocity and cumulation of resources to counter forms of development provided by state and non-state actors. The experience of workers illustrates the strategies for meeting aspirations of life projects where the Everest tourism industry is the most dependable source of livelihoods, intergenerationally. Yet, the commodification of the increasingly fragile alpine ecosystem of the Khumbu region presents significant ecological and social impacts, where sustainable tourism is becoming less viable over time.