With an am to boost its tourism industry earnings, the Bhutan government has announced to levy travel fee and charges for tourists who travel to this destination. The increased charge is expected to be imposed on tourists traveling from Bangladesh, Maldives, and India to Bhutan.
The government had exempted increased travel charges for tourists traveling to Bhutan from these three countries in the past.
Latest travel policies
As per updates, the new changes have been included by the local tourism government in the current travel policy introduced recently. The entire policy draft was initially prepared and presented by the TCB – Tourism Council of Bhutan.
Read also: Visiting Bhutan in October: A Complete Guide
Cabinet’s approval
As the latest updates, it is expected that the new policy for implementation will be passed in the Bhutan cabinet meeting. The meeting is expected to be held by the Bhutanese government by the end of next month.
The newly imposed policy has been bought for immediate effect and implementation keeping in mind the overall increase in the number of tourists that visit Bhutan from these countries. It is expected that Bhutan receives most tourists coming from India every year.
Reasons from increased Tourism to Bhutan
There are many reasons why a number of travelers prefer traveling to Bhutan from India every year. One main reason is that Bhutan is one of the tourist destinations that are nearby to India and easily accessible.
As compared to other destinations, traveling to Bhutan is still very much affordable for Indian tourists. It is also one of the eco-travel destinations for Indians.
Other details related to draft launching
The new policy introduced in the Bhutan cabinet was officially presented and discussed by the authorities in India and Bhutan. The discussion was held in between S. Jaishankar – Indian External Affairs Minister and the Bhutanese Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji. The discussion had taken place in Delhi.
Latest reports on the increment in tourism charges
As per the reports collected officially, Indians had to pay a charge of INR 18000 (equivalent to around USD 250) presently to the authorities. This charge was valid for tourists traveling to Bhutan from any foreign country.
This charge was to be paid on per person basis for each day of their travel. The local authorities had considered an amount of USD 65, which was considered as the fee for sustainable development while an amount of USD 40 was to be paid to the Visa authorities.
As updates have been mentioned that this traveler coming from India, Maldives, and Bangladesh did not have to pay an extra amount of USD 40 that was imposed on the visa to the authorities. Travelers from these countries could travel to Bhutan without applying for a Visa permit.
It was also seen that almost 274000 tourists had traveled to Bhutan during the year 2018. Out of these Tourists, the authorities also mentioned that an average of 200000 tourists had traveled from other regions to Bhutan. It was also calculated that overall of 180000 tourists belonged from India who had traveled to Bhutan during 2018.
So as per calculations, 180000 tourists who had traveled from India were not imposed with visa charges, but others had to pay around USD 250 for their travels.
Latest implementations
As per authorities, starting this season, the Bhutanese tourism sector has made it clear that Indians will now have to pay USD 250 towards sustainable travel charges along with opting for Visa permits to travel to Bhutan.
The local authorities in Bhutan have also made it clear that this increase in the revenue charges for traveling to Bhutan will not affect the total number of travelers visiting this destination. It is expected that with this new amount, the tourism industry is expected to grow and flourish sustainably. The local government also aims at regulating the low rental benefits used by tourists online when traveling to Bhutan.
