HIGH VALUE, LOW IMPACT – TOURISM IN BHUTAN
Bhutan’s consistent tourism policy of high value, low impact has helped the kingdom ensure its rich living culture.There’s a place on earth that even the most seasoned travelers consider a privilege to visit. And, although it is voted one of the world’s top travel destinations, very few make it.
The kingdom of Bhutan represents a mystical destination left for those seeking a journey back into time. Visitors walk into a rich and vibrant vulture still living in the dances and songs, festivals and legends, the art and architecture, all in a pristine natural setting of majestic mountains and lush, pristine valleys.
“Bhutan has remained an exotic and intriguing destination for most travelers with a level of mystery that has provided a cachet of curiosity that is very appealing,” says Brent Oslen, a travel agent from the U.S who has been visiting Bhutan fro the past 19 years. “I think what most Westerners want from their time in Bhutan is the aura of the traditionalism and authenticity that most modern countries have lost.”
A Sound Policy
Today, Bhutan is also seen as a fine example of sustainable eco-tourism. Inspired by its unique development philosophy – Gross National Happiness – the national policy of high value, low volume tourism asks every visitor to be sensitive to a society that is trying to preserve the best of its past in a rapidly changing world.
“We want to encourage people to get into tourism not just for the money because we will then kill the very attraction of tourism to Bhutan,” says Lhatu Wangchuk, the Director General of the royal government’s Tourism Department, which have visions of building a sensitive and sustainable tourism sector. “We are not a museum and don’t want tour operators to put on shows just for tourist consumption.”
Bhutan means it. Although the country has 20 virgin peaks that are more than 7,000 metres high, mountaineering was closed in the late 1970s when the nomadic herders living on the mountain slopes protested in parliament that their sacred mountains were being exploited.
This is just one example of Bhutan’s courageous policy that the happiness of the people is more important than material gain. It has 72 percent of its land under forest with more than 26 percent as protected parks and jealously guards its religious and cultural heritage.
“It would have been easier for us to become economically self-reliant had we not been so deeply devoted to the promotion of our culture and environment,” said Bhutan’s then Prime Minister, Lyonpo Jigme Thinley at a summit to discuss the new millennium in 1998. “The rich character of society in Bhutan would have become diminished, even impoverished, if we had allowed a flood of cultural influences and environmental degradation to set in.”
Beginnings of Tourism
Bhutan opened up to tourism in 1974, after it came out of centuries of isolation. The government adopted a cautious tourism policy from the beginning to avoid the negative impacts that mass tourism could have on a small country.
The numbers are limited through a tariff of US$200/day for each tourist as well as the limited infrastructure, which includes a total of 54 tourist hotels with 1,744 rooms. About 63,200 people visited Bhutan between 1990 and 2003, and 2004 saw a record of 9,200 tourists.
This exclusive policy represented eco-tourism at its best even before the concept was known. Today, tourism is one of the largest generators of foreign exchange for the country’s small economy.
As infrastructure increases, the tourism authorities expect more arrivals by 2007. This is expected to earn US$21 million for the tourism sector with government revenue of US$8 million. Eventually, planners hope that tourism will earn 25 percent of Bhutan’s GDP.
In Vogue
Attracting more tourists is Bhutan’s smallest problem. “Bhutan is in vogue,” says a travel writer from New York. In fact, the kingdom has once more hit the headlines with the entrance of two super luxurious resorts in 2004. The travel industry was abuzz as Amankora, managed by Aman resorts, and Uma resorts, managed by the Como group (both based in Singapore) started building a chain of small high quality resorts in the pristine countryside for their high-end visitors.
“These resorts are in line with the tourism policy of high value, low impact,” says Lhatu Wangchuk. “We will continue to follow this policy because Bhutan is just too small for mass tourism.” The resorts also serve to heighten Bhutan’s reputation among travel agents in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Future
Bhutan’s tourism is also set to enter a new era of innovation and development.
As the kingdom celebrates 100 years of monarchy in 2007, tourism officials and travel operators are working on new strategies to meet growing expectations and challenges. They are offering fresh experiences in new trekking routes, traditional herbal medical cures, meditation, heritage tours, and other new adventures.
They also hope to involve local communities by organizing farm stays, developing campsites in villages, and encouraging local people to host camps and meals for the visitors. The warmer valleys, with their subtropical flora and fauna are to be opened for winter treks as the higher regions are closed.
“We like to think that we are attracting the more sensitive, environmentally conscious visitors,” says Thuji Nadik, a tourism planner. “We need to keep our values as a traditional society and our cultural identity are very important. Hence, high value and low impact.”
In other words, Bhutan hopes that tourism will strengthen rather than threaten the government’s resolve to protect its natural and cultural heritage, even as it shares them with the world.
“I never really appreciated Bhutan until I started working as tourist guide,” says Tshering in her mid 20s. “It’s when the tourist start telling us how unique the festivals are, and how special we are that I began to understand and appreciate what we really are. It makes me understand what it means to be a Bhutanese.”
By Siok Sian Pek-Dorji