The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is halving the $200 (R3 743)-a-night fee which it charges tourists to stay in the country. This is in an effort to recover its tourism sector post-pandemic.
Bhutan raised its “Sustainable Development Fee” from $65 (R1 216) to $200 (R3 743) per visitor per night when it ended its pandemic restrictions in September last year. It said the money would go towards offsetting the carbon generated by visitors.
According to astroawani.com, a Malaysian news site, the Bhutanese government released a statement on August 25, saying that the new rate of $100 (R1 871) per night would come into effect from September and continue for four months.
"This is in view of the important role of the tourism sector in generating employment, earning foreign exchange ... and in boosting overall economic growth," said the statement.
Bhutan only opened to tourism in 1974, having previously been wary of the impact of mass tourism on the kingdom’s environment. As a result, the kingdom banned mountain climbing to preserve the sanctity of the mountains and implemented the daily tourism fee to limit tourist numbers.
Dorji Dhradhul, Director General of the Department of Tourism, said the halving of the fee could boost tourist arrivals in the September-December peak tourist period, which includes many religious and cultural events in the mainly Buddhist country.
During earlier attempts in June, the government eased rules on length of stay and fees for tourists but numbers have not picked up as expected.
Dhradhul said more than 56,000 tourists had visited Bhutan since January but about 42,000 were Indian nationals, who, under a special disapensation, only pay a fee of 1,200 Indian rupees (R271) a day.
About 50 000 Bhutanese are believed to be employed in tourism which earned about $84 million (R1 572 billion) in foreign exchange per year in the three years before the pandemic.
