The tourism industry is expected to grow again with the government relaxing the COVID restrictions after more than two years into the pandemic. The long wait is now materialising and the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) is more than ready to welcome tourists into the country. The Council launched a nationwide pilgrimage attraction, Druk Neykor, www.bhutan.travel/drukneykor today to spread the tourism growth equally across the country and promote cultural conservation for sustainable tourism.
An interesting element of the Druk Neykor package is the use of the Druk Neykor Stamp Book (DNSB) which contains pictures of 108 sites consisting of temples and sacred places spread across the country. Visitors can get the seal/stamp of the sites as a souvenir of the visit.
“This new programme is very important to us. Everyone knows that due to the pandemic, international tourists couldn’t come here for the past two years. So, based on our experience, we have come up with Druk Neykor,” said Thinley Rinzin, the Chief Tourism Officer at the TCB.
The booklet also contains QR codes for the visitors to scan and get the details of a particular temple or a sacred site.
It also aspires to promote the spread of tourism in less-visited regions and encourage the repetition of inbound tourists. The Stamp Book is now available for sale in the market. It was developed in collaboration with the Central Monastic, Department of Culture, and National Land Commission Secretariat.
The country received a group of 32 international tourists earlier this month. It was the first group since 2020 after the country closed its border to fight the pandemic. The group came bringing hope to the tourism industry that was struggling to stay afloat.
Tshering Dendup
Edited by Sonam
