Bhutan halves per day tourist fee to attract global visitors

In a bid to attract international tourists, the beautiful Kingdom of Bhutan has decided to reduce its daily tourist fee of $200 (INR 16,509) to $100 (INR 8254). The kingdom has taken the decision to boost the tourism sector which is still waiting and struggling to recover even after a year after the end of COVID-19.

In September 2022, soon after the end of COVID-19 restrictions, Bhutan decided to increase its "Sustainable Development Fee" to $200 per night from $65. The country justified this money by saying that it would go to off-set the carbon generated by visitors.
But the newly introduced tourist fee only limited the number of tourists to the country. But now, once again, Bhutan is hoping that the slash in price would increase the number of arrivals. The new tax would come into effect from September and last for four years, the government said in a statement.

The statement said, "This is in view of the important role of the tourism sector in generating employment, earning foreign exchange and in boosting overall economic growth".
For those who don’t know, Bhutan remained isolated for many years and generations. It was only in 1974 that the country opened to tourists and received 300 visitors. But by 2019, this number touched 315,600, as per official data.

Bhutan, the stunning Himalayan nation, home to several monasteries, has always attracted travellers from all over the world. But the COVID ban had a huge impact on the tourism sector in the country and then the tourist fee also limited the number of tourists and bigger spenders.

Dorji Dhradhul, director general of the Department of Tourism, informed that reducing the fee could boost arrivals in the September-December peak tourist period. He also said that over 56,000 tourists had visited Bhutan since January. Among these, about 42,000 were Indians, who only had to pay a fee of INR 1200 ($14.5) per day.