Bhutan is going to open its tourism industry post pandemic

• After over two years of the COVID-19-induced lockdown, Bhutan will open its doors to tourists with a new expensive policy for Indians and other foreign tourists.

Post COVID Tourism Policy of Bhutan

• Shift from mass tourism to “high value, low volume” tourism.
• Removal of minimum daily package rate
• Increase in Sustainable Development Fee from $65 to $200.
• For Indian tourists:
• ₹1,200 per day to be paid as per the Tourism Levy Act in 2020

Bhutan and China boundary issues

• Both have signed a three-step process and are hopeful that the government in China and Bhutan will be able to find a suitable date for the next expert group meeting.
• Indian government is aware of the situation at Doklam.
• Bilateral talks between China and Bhutan are entirely a matter between two countries as long as it doesn’t touch the trilateral junction, that is.

Way ahead

• Decisions having interests of all the countries involved, including China, India and Bhutan should be kept and the interests of the three countries are not compromised.
• After COVID, countries now need to be much more sensitive about each other.