Regional tourists using Bhutan’s 24-hour SDF waiver will soon be able to travel beyond Rinchending and visit two new destinations in Phuentshogling. The move is part of efforts to turn the border town from a transit point into a tourism destination and bring more business to the local economy.
Currently, visitors using the 24-hour SDF waiver cannot travel beyond the Rinchending checkpost. From September, they will be allowed to visit Milarepa Lhakhang and the Pachu Community Ecotourism Site during the Harvest Festival.
Milarepa Lhakhang is about 15 kilometres from Rinchending, while Pachu Community Ecotourism Site is about an hour’s journey from Phuentshogling.
Visitors will have to travel as part of an approved tourism package and be accompanied by a licensed guide.
Around 60 tour guides, tour operators, hoteliers and officials attended a sensitisation programme in Phuentshogling yesterday to learn about the new arrangement.
“Today, we had the opportunity to attend this programme and learn many things. All of us are trying to make Phuentshogling a destination, not just a transit point. We hope that with these initiatives, we can make Phuentshogling a destination for everyone. We are ready to develop and sell packages and promote Phuentshogling,” said Kamal Nepal, the CEO of Alliance International Tours, Phuentshogling.
The Minister for Industry, Commerce and Employment’s studies show that the 24-hour waiver has improved hotel occupancy and encouraged longer visitor stays. The initiative is expected to further boost the local economy,
“Phuentshogling is one of the main entry points of our country. As of today, tourists under the 24-hour SDF waiver cannot travel beyond Rinchending checkpost, so now with extension till Milarepa Lhakhang, it will help promote our culture and traditions, boost business and local economy,” said Tashi Dendup, the executive director of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Bhutan.
The new arrangement will be managed through standard operating procedures covering visitor registration, guiding, movement and monitoring.
For Phuentshogling, the hope is simple: give regional tourists more reasons to stop, explore and spend, rather than simply pass through.
Kinley Dem
Edited by Sangay Chezom
