As of now, all foreign tourists in Bhutan with the exception of Indians, Bangladeshis, and Maldivians must pay US 0 per person per day in the high season, and US 0 per person per day in the low season.
A visit to Bhutan will get dearer for Indian tourists, with the Bhutanese government imposing a “sustainable development fee” as the Himalayan nation endeavours to preserve its ecology. The development comes amid a spike in visitors from India — who have been so far exempt from the levy.
News agency AFP reported Wednesday that Bhutan’s lower house of Parliament passed legislation that requires visitors from India, Bangladesh, and the Maldives to pay a fee of 1,200 ngultrums (Rs 1200.17) per day from July onwards.
EXPLAINED | Why your holiday in Bhutan could now cost more
As of now, all foreign tourists to Bhutan, with the exception of Indians, Bangladeshis, and Maldivians have to shell out $250 per person per day during the peak season and $200 per person per day during the low season. The low season is in the winter from December to February, and during the rains from June to August.
The tourists from the three countries can travel visa-free to Bhutan and are not subject to the minimum expenditure floor of $200/250. As a result, Indian tourists have the flexibility to set their own travel budgets, including budgets for stay and food.
As per an AFP report, Bhutan received 200,000 visitors from neighbouring countries, up nearly 10 per cent from 2017, sparking fears that it was on its way to become just another mass tourism destination.
However, as a consequence of the Bhutanese government’s decision, the newly built ‘budget hotels’ for an increasing number of Indian tourists are expected to lose business. The chairman of Bhutan’s hotel and restaurants association, Sonam Wangchuk, told AFP that newly built budget hotels accommodating the surge in Indian visitors would now go bust. “We have shared our concerns and sentiments to the government. But despite that they still went ahead with the decision,” Wangchuk told AFP.
Tandi Dorji, Bhutan’s foreign minister and Tourism Council head, was quoted as saying that the government would consider fiscal incentives if the new fee affected the hotel sector.