Developing the National Tourism Policy, the regional and seasonal spread of tourism and the aspiration to make Bhutan the number one tourist destination in the world are the three top priorities of the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB).
The TCB’s Director-General Dorji Dhradul shared the priorities while signing the Annual Performance Agreement (APA) with the government for the year 2019-20 yesterday.
“High value, low volume” according to TCB, has been Bhutan’s tourism policy for the last 50 years. Keeping that as an overarching policy, TCB says they are going to draft a detailed and comprehensive national tourism policy. The Director-General Dorji Dhradul said the final draft of the tourism policy will be readied by December this year and they are hopeful that they will be able to implement the policy by this fiscal year.
Focusing on the regional and seasonal spread of tourism across the country is the other key area of TCB. They are also targeting to attract tourists throughout the year.
“Starting from farmers in a remote place to the decision-makers, everyone should be getting some benefits from tourism. As of today, we know that tourism is active only in five dzongkhags mainly Thimphu, Paro, Punakha, Wangdue and Bumthang. The rest of the 15 dzongkhags are not really covered. This is what we are trying to address, focus on the regional and seasonal spread of tourist,” the Director-General said.
He also added TCB is aspiring to make Bhutan the number one tourist destination. “Tourists, once they are in the country, should experiences world-class services, As of now based on our visitors’ survey, I think the satisfaction level is between 80 to 90%. So we hope to achieve 100 per cent.”
TCB is planning several projects which include constructing roadside amenities such as washrooms and coffee shops along the highways to achieve their targets.
“Also, we are looking at taking tourists to uncovered areas. For instance, in this year’s APA, we have new events, one is Trashi Yangtse Zorig Chusum festival, coinciding with Chunipai Losar and the other one is the bird festival in Zhemgang, which will coincide with the birthday of the fourth Druk Gyalpo.”
