The government is proposing to waive off
the US $ 65 per tourist per day royalty for visit to Eastern Bhutan. This should really help to push tourism share of Eastern Bhutan.
We may question the government motive at this near term end. However, one must take into account the East West highway condition during intense road widening activities in the past years and Yangphula airport that was closed. So any such earlier waiver of royalty would have had very minimal or no impact at all for the Eastern Dzongkhags due to travel difficulties..
Hereafter, is the right time to waive off the royalty and promote tours to the region. The airport in the East is open and Druk Air provided with subsidy to make flights financially viable and the East West highway widening is nearing completion. So it is economically and facility wise the right decision at the right time. And politically, too, for all who are part of the Parliament including all MPs of NC, NA and also at varying level both Government and Opposion can share the credit.
My one prayer to the government is please include Shemgang Dzongkhag in your submission to the Parliament. I hope the Parliament will favourably not just pass the Fiscal Incentive Money Bill to promote foreign tourists tours to Eastern Bhutan but also club Shemgang Dzongkhag within the fiscal incentive entitlement.
This Fiscal Incentive Money Bill to promote foreign tourists visit to Eastern Bhutan and Shemgang should have a time period built into it. The most appropriate would be 5 years from the date of receiving the Royal assent. After that such tourist promotional incentive should be allocated to different regions like high altitude regions in the north and far flung
Samtse Dzongkhag and Samdrup Jongkhar ( if it is not included in Eastern Dzongkhag promotional incentive ).
May tourism flourish along the designed concept that nourish the economy and preserve the cultural and natural environments of Druk Yul.
Just like a lot of things, tourism policy of the current government has been a joke, one not well thought of idea after another and this is just the latest. If they really wanted to develop tourism in the east Bhutan there should have been a master plan, and tax incentives five or ten years ago encouraging business to go out there and build facilities. Other than one or two "tourist" class hotels there are not that many facilities out there to support meaningful numbers of tourist. No one is going to go to place and have to deal with the headaches of having no facilities, infrastructure just so they get to pay $65 dollars less. In America there is a saying "If you buid it, they/he will come", this is very applicable here. Build proper infrastructure, whether it is roads, hotels, resort, trails , or something even as simple a sidewalk to walk on. Build it so that Bhutanese people living there can use them. Once you've done that tourists will start to come, regardless of whether royalty is waived or not.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at Paro and Bumthang, infrastructures like hotels came up from private initiatives not government because tourists came. Same impetus will takeover once tourists come to the East. It will take more than a year for foreign travel agencies to make full use of the lower rate. So East looks good with good road in a year time and proper airport plus lower rate. This Government has been in place just around 4 years and the imaginative boost for tourism in the East will bring much dividend for those who work ahead instead of retroactviely being in complaining mood.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at Paro and Bumthang, infrastructures like hotels came up from private initiatives not government because tourists came. Same impetus will takeover once tourists come to the East. It will take more than a year for foreign travel agencies to make full use of the lower rate. So East looks good with good road in a year time and proper airport plus lower rate. This Government has been in place just around 4 years and the imaginative boost for tourism in the East will bring much dividend for those who work ahead instead of retroactviely being in complaining mood.
ReplyDeleteanother view from Sri Lanka ,
ReplyDeleteWhy do they call India the USA OF South Asia ?
https://www.asia-pacificresearch.com/why-is-sri-lanka-granting-india-control-over-our-national-and-energy-security/5582980