In a move to facilitate a more proportional spread of tourists across the country, the Government has approved two new tourist entry points in Gelegphu and Samdrup Jongkhar as part of the Economic Contingency Plan (ECP).
Currently, Phuentsogling and Paro are the only two tourist entry points in the country. According to the ECP, the Tourism Council of Bhutan will be setting up the new entry points with integrated check post at Gelegphu and Samdrup Jongkhar. The move to set up the new entry points is in preparation for the re-opening of the sector once the pandemic subsides and also to take advantage of the favourable weather conditions in the southern foothills during winter.
As per Bhutan Tourism monitor report 2018 around 35 per cent of the international tourists who visited Bhutan in 2018 cited Bhutan’s favourable weather condition as the primary reason for their visit. Also most tourists visited western and central parts of the country.
Meanwhile, as part of programmes to prepare the sector for re-opening post COVID-19 the council has also drafted an interim Standard Operating Protocol for Sustainable Development Fee to be implemented until the full Guideline for Management of Regional Tourism is rolled-out as part of the National Tourism Policy. The SOP is intended to facilitate and guide payment of SDF by the regional tourist.
The Council will also be assessing uncertified hotels for possible certification. Currently, only dollar paying tourists are mandated to stay in minimum 3-Star hotels. However, this regulation does not apply for regional tourists because of which there was a surge in the number of regional tourists leading to increased demand for uncertified hotels. The number of uncertified hotels has increased to more than 500 as of today. To ease business processes such as transferring tour payments and refunds, the TCB will also be implementing system integration together with the banks in a phased manner.
Phub Gyem & Sonam Pem
