Over Tourism on the Highest Mountain of

the World; Mt. Everest

Research Method & Skills

Dr. Jeevan Khanal

16010952
BBA 7th Semester
Word count:2660
Table of Contents
Context..............................................................................................................................3
Abstract.............................................................................................................................3
Methodology.....................................................................................................................4
Method..............................................................................................................................5
Sampling............................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................7
Bibliography.......................................................................................................................8
 Abstract
Over tourism is the excessive flow of tourist in a location which disrupts the natural flow of
people causing various problems to the society as well as the environment. The excessive flow
of tourists has its own merits and demerits which this report will be highlighting on. This
report will in detail be looking at over tourism at Mount Everest; The highest mountain in the
world where last year in 2019 at least 11 climbers were killed in one climbing season making it
one of the deadliest climbing season in Everest History. This research will also be considering
the reason behind it being so overcrowded and why it created such a havoc in the social media
and international news channels.[ CITATION Hut \l 1033 ] The research will be divided into four
primary parts: Context, Methodology, Methods and Sampling. With the purpose of finding the
driving factors for the tourists to climb the highest and the most dangerous mountain in the
world, the government giving away permits beyond the capacity of the mountain risking the
lives of all the climbers and the view of the locals on this.

Context

A doctor from Arizona had dreamed his whole life to climb the top of Mount Everest. Upon
reaching the mountain on May 22 of 2019, he was shocked by the scene he saw there.
Hundreds of tourists waiting in line to reach the summit the size of two table tennis board
with 15-20 people on it taking selfies and enjoying the view. On the other hand, the ridge to
reach the top packed with tourists standing chest to chest with each other risking their life.
[CITATION Get \y \l 1033 ] This incident on Everest on May 22, 2019 took the internet by
storm with news agency and people expressing out their own view and take on the incident.
This is a story of one guy of the hundreds of others. This incident on Everest of over tourism
has bigger consequences as it is a matter of lives of the people climbing. Before we dive
further into this it is important to know the history of Mount Everest. In 1924, Two British
climbers made the first attempt to climb the highest mountain of the world, but the two
never returned to the base camp with one’s body later found and the other one’s still
missing.[ CITATION Bog19 \l 1033 ] Later in 1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay
Sherpa ascended the peak successfully creating a history in the mountain climbing world.
Form then later due to Cold War, climbing the Mount Everest was restricted from China side
from 1950 to 1980 and in the case of the Nepal only foreigners who were accompanied by
scientists were allowed to climb. Later in 1985, Nepal opened its border and allowed the
public to climb the highest mountain of the world one season a year.[ CITATION Mas \l 1033
] By 1990 international tensions had eased and more adventure junkies started climbing the
highest mountain of the world. Until 1990 every country brought a group of their best
climbers to climb Mount Everest and if even one person from the group made it to the top
than it would be a National success for the country climbing.[ CITATION Zra \l 1033 ] But
after 1990 individual skilled climbers began scaling the highest mountain of the world.
Seeing this opportunity for revenue generation, China started giving more permits to the
public which eventually Nepal also started doing. By the end of 1990s the number of
climbers scaling Mount Everest increased drastically.[ CITATION Tay \l 1033 ] With various
international adventure companies making Everest climbing packages and earning money
from it. Seeing this opportunity, Sherpas who are originated from the high mountainous
regions of Nepal and Tibet who were known to be naturally capable of climbing these
mountains began organizing their own packages in half the price the international
companies were providing which therefore led to a increase in climbers climbing the highest
mountain of the world. This caused larger and larger people to ascend the highest mountain
in the world which has only a small window of time before you reach the top and return
which is between early morning and mid-day. But due to overcrowding in May last year
some people were there waiting for their turn until 3pm which is a very dangerous time to
be at the highest mountain of the world, when the evening weather slowly starts tolling in
bringing winds of speed up to 160km/hr., and rapidly changing weather. [CITATION dea \l
1033 ]The travel agencies making Everest more commercialized and the government
handing out permits without looking at the consequences of it are the major reasons behind
Everest being so over crowded. On the other side, Climbing the Everest in the recent years
has been something to brag about rather than for enjoying the sheer pleasure of mountain
climbing. [ CITATION BAR19 \l 1033 ]Tourists from around the world who lack even the
basics of climbing a mountain have an eye on the peak without considering improving their
physical and technical skills needed to climb the mountain.[ CITATION bre18 \l 1033 ]

Methodology
The two types of methodology that I will be using to do this research are Quantitative
method and Qualitative method. I will firstly be defining these two types of methods and
further be explaining on how I used it and why I used it to do this research. Quantitative
research method focuses in mathematical, statistical or numerical analysis which is generally
done through polls, surveys and questionnaires to find answers of the research. This type of
approach is taken to find the relationship between one thing and the other that is within a
population. This method of research is either in a way descriptive or in experimental. Both
of these studies have their own techniques and the difference between these two is the
descriptive subject it is measured once before the survey or analysis and the experimental
subject is measured twice which is before and after the survey. Quantitative research deals
with the research based on logic and numbers. It deals with the numeric data which is
usually unchanging and is same all the time. The characteristics of Quantitative research are
the information is typically obtained through organized analytical tools, the findings are
based upon greater precision comprising the population, due to its high accuracy the
published study may normally be reproduced or repeated, investigator seems to have a
clearly articulated analytical issue by which unbiased responses are obtained, both facts of
the analysis are carefully formulated before data was obtained. You will determine until
developing a quantitative research analysis if it'll be comprehensive or experimental as this
will influence why you acquire, evaluate and predict outcomes. The obeying laws regulate a
descriptive research: samples are usually evaluated until; the aim is just to create the
correlations among different factors; and a test group must be included in the research.

Qualitative research focuses on the processes that are not examined based on intensity,
amount, quantity which are not examined experimentally. Qualitative observers emphasize
the culturally constructed existence of the actual world, the near relation between other
researcher and what will be perceived, and also the contextual constraints that form
demand. These experts underline the loadable complexity of the specification. They are
searching for answers that fix the strain on how cultural interaction is rendered and
provided sense. Quantitative studies, on the other hand, illustrate the assessment and
analysis of explanatory linkages between causes, not types. Most social analysts find
arbitrary forms of demands and behavior studies to be as much of a perspective on how
best to handle about addressing a study topic since it is a technique. Apart from positivist or
experimental work that utilizes a simple and one-directional sequence of design projects,
the way a qualitative research study is carried out is greatly vary. [ CITATION DeF11 \l 1033 ]
Overall, contextual researchers seek to represent and interpret human behavior that is
based on the words of choosing people as well as knowing their cultural history or room
used. [ CITATION McL19 \l 1033 ]This is a reflexive process that accompanies each step of a
descriptive study to insure the expert inclinations, premises, and interpretations are
unmistakably apparent, thereby ensuring that the pursuer becomes best qualified to
interpret the exploration's overall legitimacy. According to Maxwell (2009), there have been
five divisions of contextual study systems which are not necessarily demanded or
sequential.[ CITATION Far193 \l 1033 ] How well they are implemented is dependent on the
inquiry's philosophy of analysis and conceptual method, the methods selected and the basic
principles that accompany the test.[ CITATION Bil17 \l 1033 ] Qualitative approach also has
various strengths among which few are, Acquire an extremely reasonable viewpoint on the
living world which cannot be interpreted or encountered through empirical details and
tangible examination, offer the observer the opinion of the inquiry participants by flooding
in a community or situation and by close cooperation with them, Enable the expert to
represent established wonders and current situation; build flexible strategies for the
execution of knowledge variety, consequent analysis and interpretation of data collected;
produce findings that can be helpful in leading better grasp strategies.[ CITATION Bro17 \l
1033 ]

Method
The research will be conducting a Quantitative survey on 500 people who are local to the
community. It will be focusing on the number of tourists that are unskilled to climb the
mountains and why travel companies are providing them the facilities to do so. This will help
in properly finding out the number of people who are untrained and the reason the result
that came out after doing so. The number of people surveyed will be locals who will be
asked various questions relating to why Everest has over crowded in the past years and
what measures are there possible to stop that in the future to help the people safely climb
the mountain and also do good for others. [ CITATION Tro \l 1033 ]The next type of research
will be focus groups which will be targeted to specific travel agencies that have been doing
the organizing of the packages for climbing the highest mountain of the world.[ CITATION
www18 \l 1033 ] This will help in further understanding the need of the clients and why they
are climbing and what is the ratio of inexperienced climbers in comparison to the
experienced climbers. This will help the research further understand why people have been
doing so which is daring, to sale the highest mountain of the world permit to people without
experience. Qualitative research interviews will be conducted to the government officials of
Kathmandu Valley and Sagarmatha to find out why so many permits are being given to the
public and why special attention has not been given to the safety of those climbers who are
climbing without proper training and causing the life of others in danger as well as theres.
The government officials will also be questioned in this topic of the facilities provided by the
government for the safety of the climbers as that many people are climbing and the
casualties are divided as per the permits distributed and can the government really help
solve that problem. It will also question weather the guides and porters are provided proper
payroll and what happens in case of the death of such helpers that is porters and guides.
[ CITATION Bas \l 1033 ] Qualitative case study will also done of the guides that are helping
the tourists climb the highest peak in the world about what problems they are facing and
are they working as per there will and are they able to able to bring the clients back who are
going against their physical health just for the sake of reaching the top no matter if it costs
their life and how many such cases occur. [ CITATION Mid161 \l 1033 ]The Guides will also
further be questioned regarding the facilities the government has been providing for the
safety of the climbers as well as the guides with them and are they receiving enough money
as per their work by their working companies. The case study will also focus on the life of
the family incase of the guides death regarding the amount they receive from the company
as well as the government for the home expense of the family since the death of the guide.

Sampling
In Sampling, there will be two types of sampling that will be done that is probability
sampling and non-probability sampling. [ CITATION McC19 \l 1033 ]Under Probability
sampling important people from tourism industry will be sampled along with various
adventurers that have summited Everest multiple time to get the collective result from high
level individuals. Another similar sampling will be done of the chairman of Sagarmatha
conservation committee to list out the problems and the solutions to those problems.
[ CITATION une \l 1033 ] This sampling will further help in hearing the voice of the masses
since these individuals will be representing a group of people. The people that will be
sampled will be responsible in case of anything false acquisitions. This sampling will be done
by recruiting individuals and sending them in the field to sample. Another sampling used will
be non-probability sampling which costs less compared to probability sampling. This
sampling will be cheap and easy but one drawback of this sampling is that it won’t be used
to make valid statistical conclusion about mass of the population. This sampling however
will be used to do research from a small population which is also a priority for us since the
high mountainous region is difficult to conduct sampling in due to the geography and the
small number of population, this type of sampling will be helpful in such places. Under non-
probability sampling we will use Snowball sampling since the village are distributed in a long
distance, a person from collect data of the whole village to conduct this sampling. The other
use of sampling will be done also in foreign market which have groups of climbers who have
already summited Everest and those who are planning to do so in the future.
 Conclusion
The purpose of the above research is to find answers to the un answered question that will
be fulfilled by the help of this research. By the use of the above methodology, methods and
sampling one will be able to exactly pinpoint the problems and work on solution in solving
the problem in has seen in the Research. This research is and its methods have been fully
focused on understanding the problem and achieving the right answers by the help of the
methods used in the research which will definitely serve those seeking for an answer to the
problem.
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