Post-COVID, the global tourism and travel industry anticipates a sea of change including the way people travel. And in Bhutan too, one of the changes that the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) is predicting is fewer tourists opting for group travel to minimise risk. Group travel was a strategy that the council has been promoting pre-COVID for sustainable tourism.
The Director-General of the TCB shared this today at the first session of Tourism Bhutan Dialogue. It is a forum the TCB initiated to engage stakeholders in the tourism sector to draw ideas on remodelling the tourism sector post-COVID.
The TCB has been promoting group travel pre-COVID as a scheme to attract more tourists and to reduce the carbon footprint of travellers at the same time.
The tour operators offer discounts on the minimum daily package cost for tourists depending on the group size. They offer a 50 per cent discount on a minimum daily package to one person in a group of 11 people and a 100 per cent discount to one member in a group that exceeds 16 people.
“If you are travelling as an individual tourist, we need to provide one car. So providing a car for every individual would mean a lot of carbon footprint. Instead, if 15 people come together and travel in a group we can ferry them in two buses which will leave a lesser footprint. Now, post COVID because of health concern and the virus containment protocol, I think the tourists themselves will prefer travelling individually or in a very small group,” said Dorji Dhradhul, the Director-General of TCB.
The global travel industry contributed eight per cent to global greenhouse gas emissions between 2009 and 2013, resulting from tourists spending on transport, shopping and food.
Meanwhile, the TCB will be hosting the Tourism Bhutan Dialogue series twice a month to give stakeholders in the tourism sector a platform to discuss ideas and share best practices, on how best Bhutan can move forward when it reopens for international tourism.
“There are no tourists in the country. We are at the revival stage. It is time to look at improving our infrastructure, putting in place new system be it digitization, remodelling business and promotion strategies,” said Damcho Rinzin, the Head of Promotion Division at the TCB.
The forum will also see a discourse on various themes in the tourism and travel industry including sustainable tourism and climate change.
Phub Gyem
