According to the Bhutan Tourism Board , the tourism industry of the Kingdom will be transformed in at least three areas:
– infrastructure and quality of services;
– tourist experience from travel;
– environmental impact Wednesday.
“COVID-19 has allowed us to reboot — rethink how best to structure and manage the industry so that it benefits Bhutan not only economically but also socially. In the long term, our goal — to give tourists an experience and create well-paid and professional jobs for their citizens”, — said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chairman of the Bhutan Tourism Board Tandi Dorji.
Among the upcoming changes — updated standards for service providers, including hotels, guides, tour operators and drivers. They will soon have to undergo rigorous certification before they can again attract and serve tourists. For employees, advanced training and retraining programs will be launched to improve the quality of service for guests of the country.
Bhutan is also going to make every effort to become an environmentally friendly destination for tourists. Climate change leads here to such devastating consequences as prolonged rains and floods.
To this end, it was decided to increase the size of the special “environmental” collecting up to 200 US dollars from each tourist. The funds received will be used for activities aimed at offsetting the carbon footprint of tourists and improving the skills of employees. An exception is made for Indian travelers — for them, the fee will remain the same, its size will be revised later.
At the same time, the authorities abolished such a thing as the minimum daily package price (MDPR). This is the minimum amount that all tourists paid for all-inclusive package tours to Bhutan. In the past, MDPR has often limited traveler options as they can only choose from a range of services provided by tour operators. In the future, tourists will have the flexibility to engage suppliers directly and pay accordingly. The tariff changes came into effect on June 20, 2022.