With the tourism sector heavily hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) is working to restore the livelihood of those working in the sector and also to boost the local economy. The TCB officially permits domestic tourism through a notification, today. The domestic tourism activities will be allowed with adherence to health and safety advisory to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19.
In domestic tourism, locals either individually or in a group will be allowed to travel within the country and carry out activities including trekking, hiking, rafting, hot spring and hot stone bath, swimming, horse riding, camping, pilgrimage, bird watching, cycling, helicopter ride and others. However, the council mandates individuals to carry out these activities with adherence to COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
“We have started works on promoting domestic tourism pre-COVID but with the COVID it became even more urgent. Since we don’t have international tourists, we feel that at least locals travelling around would somehow give a boost to the local economy. We are working on this and in fact, it was already announced by the government but maybe a formal notification wasn’t issued and it is coming formally for the first time,” said Dorji Dhradul, the Director-General of TCB.
In addition, TCB also mandates domestic tourists and tour operators to register with the council if the tour is beyond four nights and passes through communities, especially remote settlements. And the council also limits the maximum people in a group to 15 heads for both pilgrimage and trekking tours.
The TCB, local governments concerned and other relevant agencies will be monitoring to ensure that domestic tourism is conducted in keeping with the conditions and COVID-19 health and safety protocols at all times.
Phub Gyem
