Tengoboche has no road network, approach is only by trekking and consequently the living conditions in the village are abnormally expensive . Many tourists visit the village as part of their trekking route and it provides the main approach to the base camp for the national and international mountaineering community who trek to Mt. Everest and other mountains in the Kumbu region. It is reported that only 50 monks and five families permanently live in the Tengboche village. However, in the short span of 5 tourist months, thousands of tourists and trekkers visit (25,000 tourists were reported during 1999) the Sagarmatha National Park and village has numerous buildings of accommodation for guests. On their way to the high altitude trekking, tourists spend two days in Tengboche for acclimatization before undertaking the High altitude trekking or mountaineering to the Himalayan peaks. Consequently this puts heavy burden on the village community and on the Monastery administration, particularly on the meagre facilities of water, electricity, food and sanitation available in the village.
To improve the economy of the village and the Tengboche Monastic community, a practical solution has been evolved by setting up the Tengboche Development Project, which concentrates on the services to be provided in Tengboche, more used by the tourists, such as water and sanitation. To sustain the economic conditions in the village, which largely caters to the trekkers from various parts of the world, tourists and trekkers have been urged to offer donations to the Tengboche Development Project. Funds made available would enable employing the local people in various development activities. However, help in respect of special skills such as in the Eco-Center or medical herb plantation activities would still be required. Sherpas (meaning the "easterner"), form the majority community in the village and in the Kumbu region, and they are closely involved in the form of
