The stakeholders in the tourism sector are hoping that they will now be consulted for any policy matters as the Tourism Council of Bhutan becomes Tourism Department under the Economic Affairs Ministry. They said there was a lack of consultation while the TCB operated as an autonomous agency. The TCB was renamed and became a department earlier this week as part of the ongoing transformation.
The renaming of TCB on Tuesday was met with criticism with some netizens commenting that a mere change in the name wouldn’t bring about any changes.
However, the immediate stakeholders of the tourism sector including tour operators, hotels and restaurants and guides have bigger hopes and aspirations. They said that headed by a Minister and a Secretary, the department will become more accountable and engaging.
“With the new change, we are hoping that the fund allocation for the department of tourism will be much bigger than in the past. And also, we are hoping that there would be genuinely more training and refresher courses given to the guides,” said Garab Dorji, the Chairman of the Guide Association of Bhutan.
“Before the TCB was on its own, of course, there was a focus on tourism activities but now with it being under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, we feel like there will be better synergies, better planning and better implementation. We hope that whatever decisions are made, we are not kept in the dark because I think a lot of challenges in the past have been lack of consultation and also lack of information sharing. So, we feel if we are included in the decision-making process, firstly people will be aware,” said Sonam Maekay Penjor, the Chairman of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Bhutan.
The Association of the Bhutanese Tour Operators said that the new Department of Tourism will hopefully provide more accountability, efficiency and stakeholder consultation. Under TCB, ABTO felt that there was a lack of regular stakeholder consultation. With the new reforms, we hope there will be more efficiency in service delivery and a more quality standard implementation.
The stakeholders said the TCB do not consult the stakeholders for any decision-making or change in policy matters. Some of them said they weren’t consulted even during the latest transformation when the TCB became a department under the economic affairs ministry. Some said they were consulted only in the later stages.
Since its inception in 1971, the Tourism Department has changed its name several times and was placed under various ministries.
It first started as the Department of Tourism under the Finance Ministry, then became Bhutan Tourism Corporation under the then Ministry of Communication in 1983, and the Tourism Authority in 1991.
And in 1999, it was again renamed as the Department of Tourism under the Ministry of Trade and Industry which became the Tourism Council of Bhutan in 2008.
Samten Dolkar
Edited by Phub Gyem
