Bhutan plans to levy charges on tourists from regional countries, including India, Bangladesh and Maldives, who at present are exempted from any charges. The new draft tourism policy, which is likely to be finalised by the Bhutanese Cabinet next month, was discussed by visiting foreign minister Tandi Dorji with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and meetings in Delhi on Nov 18, 2019.
According to the draft prepared by the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB), the new charges have been necessitated by the sharp increase in tourists from the region, mainly India, who cross over the land boundaries. Bhutan’s “High Value, Low Impact” policy (also called the “High value, low volume” policy) is that they will monitor their tourist arrivals depending on their capacity to cater to them.
Over the last few years the number of tourists has been increasing at a really rapid rate, growing about 10 times in the past decade, threatening the existing policy.”
According to sources, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has, however ‘some concern that the measures proposed should not cause too many hassles to Indian visitors,’ and would want a predictable and reasonable policy.
In 2018, of the 274,000 tourists visiting Bhutan, the council estimated that about 200,000 were from the region, of which about 180,000 were from India. In contrast to other international tourists, who pay $250 (Approx. INR. 18,000) as a minimum charge per day per person, which includes a $65 a day “Sustainable Development Fee”, as well as a $40 visa charge, tourists from India, Bangladesh and the Maldives had so far paid no fees, and were able to cross over without visas. According to the new policy, however, they would be charged a Sustainable Development Fee, as well as a “permit processing fee.”
Experts say the measures could deter Indian tourists from visiting Bhutan and may come in for criticism especially from those wishing to visit from bordering states like West Bengal and Assam. Even so, the Bhutanese government has been keen to explain their planned changes to the Indian government, officials said and put off finalising them until Foreign Minister Dorji’s visit to India.
