General news related to tourism in Bhutan

Commission For Tour Guides

August 26, 2010

Handicrafts shops are complaining that tour guides are charging them hefty commissions. A consultative meeting among tourism stakeholders held recently discussed various tourism issues to help the tourism sector generate 25,000 jobs and contribute 15 % to the country’s GDP by the end of 2013. The meeting addressed stakeholders’ grievances on many issues.

National Parks Open for Tourists

August 3, 2010

Tourists coming into the country will now have the chance to live in the wild, amid hundreds of species of animals, birds and plants. Diversifying tourism products, Bhutan’s 10 “protected” areas will now be opened for tourists, an outcome of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MoAF).

Visa and MasterCard in Bhutan

June 17, 2010

Less than a week after the oldest bank, Bank of Bhutan (BoB) became a member of MasterCard, it has now become a primary member of Visa. Visa like MasterCard provides financial institutions the right to issue Visa-branded credit and debit cards used to its customers.

USD 250 A Day From 2013

April 17, 2010

Can Bhutan bring in more tourists at a higher tariff? According to a majority of the tour operators in the country, it may not be possible. In other words, it’s going to be difficult to meet the government’s target of bringing in 100,000 tourists by 2013, when the official tariff goes up from USD 200 to USD 250 a day.

McDonald-ization of Tourism in Bhutan?

March 18, 2010

I am writing about the “prestigious” firm of McKinsey & Company hired by Bhutan to “advise” the country on its potential growth and/or development. I am not sure if the company’s task is related to “advising” the country in general or specifically in the tourism aspect of the country. In any case, knowing and loving Bhutan as I do, I personally think that it was not a good choice.

Tour Guides and Ethics

February 27, 2010

You must have heard the popular anecdote of a tour guide interpreting the Mebar Tsho (the burning lake) in Bumthang as Guru Rinpoche’s swimming pool or the telling tales of the two statues at Babesa talking back-to-back? And beat this, a guide explaining to a tour about a local cuisine made of cow hide calling it ‘leather curry’.