The government will now take a circuit based tourism development approach for its tourism flagship programme. This means all 20 districts will receive an equal opportunity unlike the earlier plan of having only four districts in the programme. The government approved this change following a proposal from the Tourism Council of Bhutan(TCB) and the Gross National Happiness Commission(GNHC).
The government had initially identified Dagana, Gasa, Lhuentse and Zhemgang as tourism flagship focus districts. However, issues came up when the government replaced Zhemgang with Sarpang District.
Under the new development, the TCB has identified four circuits of Eastern, Western, Southern and the Central. Monggar, Trashigang, Trashiyangtse, Lhuentse, Pema Gatshel and Samdrup Jongkhar fall under east circuit. The central circuit will have Bumthang, Trongsa and Zhemgang. And Thimphu, Paro, Haa, Punakha, Wangdue Phodrang and Gasa are categorized under the West and Chhukha, Dagana, Tsirang, Sarpang and Samtse under the south circuit.
The move, according to the TCB, is based on consultations with all concerned agencies, stakeholders and recommendations provided by the Local Government.
“Many other dzongkhags have also approached TCB saying that they also have equal potential and opportunity. So based on consultation with all the concerned agencies, then we have decided that it will be better for us to implement this flagship programme as a circuit based tourism development,” said Tashi Tenzin, the head of Programme Management Unit, TCB.
On average, each circuit will receive Nu 110 M in five year’s time. The budget will be used for infrastructure and product development.
“The distribution of money to each Dzongkhag will depend on their potential for tourism development and promotion and as well as activities we have identified in each dzongkhags,” Tashi Tenzin said.
He added the circuit based tourism development will help develop connections between different districts thereby enabling tourists to visit more nearby districts.
The government has allocated a total of Nu 1.5bn in the current plan for the tourism flagship programme. The programme aims to contribute to the national economy, improve rural livelihood, improve the seasonal and regional balance of tourism and enhance visitors’ satisfaction through the improvement of services.
Pema Tshewang
