Rooted in the Mountains, Built on Trust.
Long before Eco Holidays Nepal became a trekking company, it began with a boy growing up beneath the Himalayas. Our founder, Dhruba Dharel, was born and raised in Dhading, where terraced hills rise toward the Ganesh Himal Range, where crossing a swaying suspension bridge over the Trishuli River was simply part of the journey to school, and where snow-capped peaks were not destinations on a map; they were part of everyday life.
Growing up there teaches lessons that no guidebook ever can. You learn which valleys hold onto the morning mist the longest, how villages change with the rhythm of the seasons, and how every mountain has stories carried through generations. More importantly, you learn that the Himalayas are not simply landscapes to admire, they are homes, livelihoods, sacred places, and communities that deserve respect.
Like many young people from Nepal's hill districts, Dhruba's connection to the mountains eventually became his livelihood. He began his career as a porter, carrying supplies and walking the same rugged trails that thousands of trekkers travel each year. It was demanding work, but it also became an education that no classroom could have offered. Every journey deepened his understanding of the mountains, not only the routes and changing weather, but also the responsibility of safely guiding people through one of the world's most extraordinary environments.
Years later, he became a licensed trekking guide, leading travelers across Nepal's most celebrated trekking regions. Those years on the trail taught him that a successful journey is not measured only by reaching a destination. It is built through thoughtful planning, patient guidance, genuine hospitality, and the countless small decisions that allow travelers to feel both safe and deeply connected to the places they visit.
Working closely with international trekkers also gave him a unique perspective on Nepal's tourism industry. He witnessed how responsible travel could create meaningful opportunities for local families, preserve culture, and support remote mountain communities. At the same time, he saw experiences that felt rushed, impersonal, and disconnected from the people whose lives and traditions make the Himalayas so remarkable. Those experiences shaped a simple but enduring belief: tourism should leave both travelers and local communities better than it found them.
That belief became the foundation of Eco Holidays Nepal, established in 2018. In the years that followed, Dhruba continued to build on that vision as the Founder of Nepal Recreation and Co-Founder of Hotel Cozy Heaven, bringing the same commitment to authentic travel and genuine hospitality across different areas of Nepal's tourism industry.
Eco Holidays Nepal was never created simply to organize treks. It was created to share Nepal through the eyes of people who have lived, worked, and grown alongside these mountains. Every itinerary we design reflects the values that shaped our journey from the very beginning: respect for local communities, responsible travel, genuine hospitality, and an unwavering commitment to safety.
Today, Eco Holidays Nepal has grown from a small, locally rooted operation into a trusted trekking and adventure company guiding travelers across Nepal's Himalayas. The destinations may change, but the way we approach them never does: with local knowledge, careful planning, genuine hospitality, and respect for the people and landscapes that make each journey possible.
We believe the finest journeys are guided by people who don't simply know the mountains; they have grown up with them, worked in them, and continue to call them home.
A Company You Can Verify, Not Just Trust on Faith
Anyone can describe themselves as "eco-friendly," "professional," or "premium." We believe trust should be built on transparency rather than marketing language. Since 2018, Eco Holidays Nepal has operated as a legally registered and government-authorized trekking company, meeting Nepal's regulatory requirements while continuously guiding travelers across the country's trekking regions.
Legally Registered and Government-Licensed
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Registered with the Company Registrar's Office, Ministry of Industry, Nepal [ Registration Number– 152026/073/074]
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Licensed by the Department of Tourism, Ministry of Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation [Tourism License Number– 2646/075]
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Registered with the Inland Revenue Department for PAN/VAT [PAN/VAT Number– 60428976]
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Authorized by Nepal Rastra Bank (Central Bank of Nepal) for foreign currency transactions
Trade Association Memberships
We maintain active membership with Nepal's leading tourism organizations, including:
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Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN), the governing trade body that licenses and holds accountable trekking operators across the country
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Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), which promotes recognized safety standards and ethical practices in mountain travel
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Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA), the country's principal trade association representing tour and travel operators
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Village Tourism Promotion Forum (VITOF) Nepal, dedicated to promoting community-based tourism
Sustainability and Ethics Partnerships
Our commitment to responsible tourism is further supported through partnerships and memberships with organizations that promote environmental stewardship and ethical travel.
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Kathmandu Environmental Education Project (KEEP), a nonprofit dedicated to environmental awareness and responsible tourism education in Nepal's trekking regions
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Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA)
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Travelife, certified for sustainable tourism practices
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International Porter Protection Group (IPPG), ethical treatment and welfare standards for trekking porters
Guide and Field Standards
Every trekking experience depends on the people leading it. That is why we invest in qualified professionals rather than simply hiring whoever is available.
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All guides hold valid NTB Trekking Guide Licenses, renewed every three years
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Guides are certified in Wilderness First Aid / First Responder training for high-altitude routes
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NMA Climbing Guide Certification for peak climbing and expedition staff
These memberships and certifications are not logos collected for a website footer. They represent accountability. They require us to uphold professional standards for guide training, porter welfare, responsible tourism, environmental practice, and operational safety. They remind us that credibility is earned through consistent practice, not claimed through advertising.
What "Eco" Actually Means to Us?
Putting the word eco in a company name is easy. Living up to it is considerably harder.
For us, sustainability is not a marketing slogan or an annual campaign. It is a series of decisions made every day, often behind the scenes, that shape how people experience Nepal and how tourism impacts the communities that make these journeys possible.
Where possible, we work with community-run teahouses, family-owned lodges, local restaurants, and independent suppliers because we believe tourism should circulate directly through the villages that welcome travelers, rather than flowing away from them.
Before every trek, we brief our guests on responsible travel practices: respecting local customs, minimizing waste, protecting fragile mountain environments, and understanding the cultural significance of monasteries, temples, and sacred landscapes encountered along the trail.
When planning itineraries, we also look beyond the busiest routes whenever appropriate, introducing travelers to quieter villages and lesser-known sections of trail that help distribute tourism more evenly while creating more meaningful experiences for both visitors and host communities.
Responsible tourism also means responsible decision-making in the mountains. We monitor weather conditions, prioritize proper acclimatization, adapt itineraries when safety requires it, and never treat reaching a destination as more important than returning home safely.
None of these choices are particularly flashy. They can be slower, require more planning, and sometimes sacrifice convenience. We simply believe they represent the only version of eco-tourism that genuinely deserves the name.
Local Roots, Personal Attention
Planning a journey through Nepal does not begin with a spreadsheet of popular routes. It begins with someone who grew up reading these mountains.
Dhruba's lifelong connection to Dhading and the Himalayan foothills provides a perspective that cannot be learned from guidebooks or copied from travel websites. It is an understanding built through years of walking these trails, observing changing weather patterns, knowing which villages preserve their traditions most proudly, and recognizing the quieter viewpoints that often become the moments travelers remember most.
That same philosophy shapes every conversation we have with our guests.
When you contact Eco Holidays Nepal, you are speaking directly with people who know these mountains firsthand, not a distant booking office reading from a script. Your itinerary is planned by individuals who have spent years exploring these routes and who approach every journey with the same care they would want for their own family heading into the Himalayas.
An Experience Designed Around You, Not a Fixed Package
No two travelers arrive in Nepal for the same reason. Some dream of standing beneath Everest. Others seek the quieter trails of Manaslu or Kanchenjunga. Some travel with family, while others come alone in search of reflection, challenge, or simply a different pace of life.
Rather than offering rigid, one-size-fits-all itineraries, we build journeys around the individual. We adjust trekking pace to support comfortable acclimatization, recommend routes that genuinely match your interests, and shape each itinerary around your available time, fitness level, and travel goals.
The right itinerary is not always the longest, the highest, or the most popular. Sometimes it is choosing an extra acclimatization day that lets you enjoy the journey instead of rushing through it. Sometimes it is recommending a quieter trail over a famous one because it better matches what you are looking for. Our job is not to sell the biggest adventure; it is to recommend the right one.
Because the most memorable moments rarely happen at the final destination. They happen while sharing tea with a lodge owner who welcomes you into their home, listening to a porter talk proudly about his village, watching prayer flags flutter above an ancient monastery, or standing quietly as the clouds part to reveal a mountain you had not expected to see until much later.
Those moments are the journey.
Our Responsibility Beyond the Trail
Every journey we organize begins long before a traveler arrives in Nepal and continues long after they return home. Between those moments are the communities that welcome our guests, the families who run mountain teahouses, the porters who carry heavy loads across high passes, the guides who lead with experience, and the villages that have shared their culture with visitors for generations.
We have always believed that being part of Nepal's tourism industry comes with a responsibility to support the people who make these experiences possible. Whether through community donations, local initiatives, or simply choosing to work with local businesses and families whenever possible, we want our presence in these mountains to leave something positive behind. We try to do that in practical ways, supporting community initiatives, contributing whenever local families need a helping hand, and choosing to work with local businesses whenever we can.
We want our presence in these mountains to leave something positive behind. For us, responsible tourism is measured not only by the experiences our travelers take home, but also by the relationships we build with the people who call these mountains home. If the communities we work alongside grow stronger because of our presence, then we believe we've done something far more meaningful than simply organizing another trek.
Why Travelers Choose Us?
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Founded and locally operated in Nepal since 2018, with years of hands-on experience across the country's trekking and adventure destinations
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Fully licensed and government-registered, with memberships in Nepal's leading trekking, mountaineering, and tourism organizations
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Led by local experts who know these mountains through lived experience, not outsourced operations or third-party contractors
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Sustainability built into route planning, accommodation choices, porter welfare, and everyday decision-making, not treated as a marketing slogan
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Personalized itineraries thoughtfully designed around your interests, pace, schedule, and travel goals
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Qualified guides committed to professionalism, safety, responsible trekking, and genuine cultural connection
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A team that does not simply work in the Himalayas, but proudly calls them home.
More Than a Trip
At Eco Holidays Nepal, we believe the finest journeys are not measured only by the summits you reach or the kilometers you walk. They are measured by the people you meet, the stories you hear, the communities that welcome you, and the moments that quietly change the way you see the world.
If you choose to travel with us, we hope you will leave Nepal with unforgettable memories, but also with a deeper appreciation for the mountains, cultures, and people who have called this extraordinary place home for generations.
