Eco-Tourism Capacity Building
The Eco-tourism Capacity Building Program is aimed at increasing the skills of tourism professionals. KEEP achieves this through non-formal education, training and workshops on a variety of issues such as the environment, eco-tourism, conservation, heritage and languages, mountain safety and First Aid.
Some of the major training programs recently provided by KEEP include:
English language Course
KEEP runs an ongoing program of tailored English language courses aimed at improving the conversational abilities of tourism professionals throughout Nepal. Improving language skills has a positive impact on the people of Nepal as it increases the confidence of participants to do their jobs well and increases their transferable skills. Guides, porters, and tourism entrepreneurs are taught practical vocabulary and conversation essential for successful interaction with clients. The course runs for four weeks and is taught by experienced native English instructors who are assisted by Nepali instructors. Nearly 700 tourism professionals have benefitted from this course from 2013 to 2022.
Wilderness first aid Course
The Wilderness First Aid Course of KEEP has been incredibly important in teaching tourism professionals how to address injuries in unpredictable mountainous terrain. KEEP annually conducts two First Aid Courses: three-day refresher courses (RWFAC) and a five-day intensive course (IWFAC). KEEP also conducts special six-day First Aid, in-field treatment, mountain safety, altitude sickness, practical demonstration of CPR methods, and use of portable altitude chambers (PAC bags). More than 800 tourism professionals have benefited from the course from 2013 to 2022.
Eco Leadership Trekking Course
The course is designed to help the trekking leaders and guides develop into eco-friendly leaders/guides within the fast-growing tourism industry of Nepal. This foundation course helps to certify the guides and distinguishes them from general leaders/guides. KEEP conducted this course for 50 trekking leaders and guides from February 14-16, 2014, and on March 8-9, 2015. The program was successfully carried out at Hotel Mustang Holiday Inn, Jyatha, Thamel. Various topics on the environment and leadership in connection to tourism were covered during the three-day intensive course.
Environmental Awareness Workshop
With the help of NMA (Nepal Mountaineering Association), KEEP has conducted two Environmental Awareness Workshop until now. The first one is in Kathmandu, and, the second one is in Pokhara. The aim of this workshop is to make the guides and porters and other tourism professionals aware of environment-friendly trekking and sustainable tourism and produce eco-leaders.
Map Navigation
As a part of Eco-tourism capacity building, KEEP offers a Map navigation course every once a year. The course is particularly designed for guides in the trekking industry, enabling basic map reading skills to them. This two-day course consists of both theory and practical lessons, as a result of the course the guides can read a basic map and lead a group.
