Tightening American belts may trim tourism-Bhutan
15 October, 2008 – After seeing an increase in the number of tourist arrivals this year, Bhutanese tour operators now express concern that the recent Wall Street financial crisis could put a dent on the number of tourists in 2009.
Americans lost a lot of money on savings and investments in the stock market and are now cutting back on expenses and rethinking their vacation plans, according to tour operators in Thimphu.
The finance minister, Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu, said that the impact of the global financial crisis on the Bhutanese financial sector would be minimal, but that the tourism industry could be hit.
“People have lost money so the industry should be prepared to expect a decrease in numbers,” said Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu, adding that the prime cause of the current financial crisis was irresponsible lending by major US banks.
The minister said that Bhutan gets a large number of tourists from the US, Japan and Germany and all these countries have been caught in the crisis. Tourism is an important hard currency earner for the Bhutanese economy, next only to hydropower.
The highest number of tourists was recorded this year with 21,655, compared with 21,094 tourists in 2007. The tourism industry earned a gross amount of about US$ 30 million in 2007.
“We didn’t feel the effect this season because everything was pre-booked and paid for,” said the managing director of Yangphel Tours and Treks, Karma Lotey. “But the impact will be felt next year for which the advance bookings have begun.”
He said that, if the crisis continued, the tour company might see cancellations or decrease in the pre-bookings for next year. “About 65 percent of the tourists, that come to the country through Yangphel, are Americans and therefore, will impact us greatly,” he said.
Tashi Kelson Tobgay of YANA Expeditions, however, said that it was still too early to tell the level of impact the financial crisis would have on the Bhutanese tour companies. “But a decline in the American tourist arrival to Bhutan next year wouldn’t be surprising to us if the crisis is going to continue,” he said.
By Phuntsho Choden (Kuenselonline)