Bhutan is a unique destination, where tourism is cautiously approached to make the most of its benefits without the country having to yield much to its impacts. A unique policy “High Value, Low Impact” is pursued by the Royal Government of Bhutan in its effort to build a sustainable tourism industry.
The government recognises that tourism is an important means of achieving the developmental goals but it also believes that tourism must be environmentally & socially friendly and economically viable.
Therefore, tourism is regulated by the government, for the interest of all the stakeholders including the visitors (also a top priority) while safeguarding the country’s culture & tradition and environmental heritage for all generations to come.
This requires all the tour operators in the country to function as per the tourism policies set by the Government based on the Gross National Happiness (GNH) values.
Here is a gist of how the policy is implemented.
The minimum daily tariff.
The 65$ per person per night cost (included in the package) is a sustainable royalty taken by the government and is used to fund the free education, free healthcare, poverty alleviation, building infrastructure and other welfare programs of the country.