Tourist arrivals in Bhutan fall during Peak season

While spring has not been so bountiful, there is not much to look forward to in fall either for the tourism industry that saw a drop in international tourist arrivals by about 14.62 percent as of August this year.

Even the ongoing Thimphu tshechu, one of the highlights of the peak season failed to draw as many international tourists as it did last year.

Records with the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) show that a total of 3,495 international tourists have been booked to arrive for the Thimphu tshechu this year against 5,280 international tourists in 2014 for the same period.

Bhutan recorded a total of 99,709 tourists as of August 31 of which 32,877 were international visitors and 66,832 regional visitors. While this is an overall increase of 30.83 percent, in terms of international tourists, this season saw a drop of 14.62 percent.

Regional tourist arrivals continued to increase this year. As of August 31, regional tourists recorded an increase of 77.25 percent compared to the same period last year.

Visitors from India, Maldives and Bangladesh are considered as regional tourists. They are exempt from the minimum daily tariff of USD 250 and 200 during the peak and lean seasons that the international tourists pay to visit Bhutan.

TCB officials said the Bhutan-Thailand friendship offer for the lean months of June, July and August brought in a total of 8,842 Thai visitors that boosted the international tourist arrivals statistics.

However, they also said that the tourism industry continues to be affected by the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake and the bomb blast in Bangkok, Thailand since Bangkok is the preferred choice of entry point and circuit destination for visitors coming to Bhutan.

The drop in arrivals, which is compounded by the increasing number of tour operators and guides leaving, has left the industry in doldrums.

Hotels and Restaurants Association of Bhutan’s president Thinley Palden Dorji said that while the association doesn’t have data on occupancy yet, going by the demand, there is a decline from last year. “This year it’s relatively calmer and easier to get rooms unlike last year,” he said, adding this has left many hotels worried.

However, Thinley Palden Dorji said that last year as the Thimphu tshechu coincided with the puja holidays in October, it had increased demand for rooms from regional tourists.

As for tour operators, most said they recorded a drop in arrivals compared to the past years.

“For us, it’s been the same like last year but this year it wasn’t difficult getting hotels,” a tour operator said. “Still there are many hotels available while last year there was shortage of rooms everywhere.”

Etho Metho tour and treks’ director Sangay Wangchuk said they experienced a drop in tourists by about 30 to 40 percent compared to last year. He attributed the drop to the Nepal earthquake, which led to cancellation of trips.

Some tour operators said that Myanmar and Sri Lanka emerging as new destinations had an impact on Bhutan as a destination. Besides, tour operators said that the increasing number of Bhutanese tour operators led to more competition.

Guides Association of Bhutan’s (GAB) chairman Garab Dorji said that at this time of the year, the association receives many requests for guides. “This year there are hardly any requests which means there is a drop in arrivals,” he said. “Most guides were saying they aren’t engaged this time.”

During peak seasons, GAB arranges freelance guides for tour operators when the demand soars. However since last year, Garab Dorji said the market has been inundated with guides.  “Every year about 400 to 500 guides enter the market,” he said.

A tour operator said that the drop in international tourist arrivals this fall is proof of how volatile the tourism industry is. “It only goes to show what we are up against if the country becomes too dependent on tourism,” he said.

There are more than 2,300 guides, 1,600 tour operators and 123 tourist standard hotels in the country as of last year.

Source: Kuenselonline

Bhutan Khesar Gyalpo Archery Tournament

The Khesar Gyalpo Archery Tournament (KGAT) started in Trashigang yesterday with three teams from the gewogs of Merak, Sakteng and Radhi.

Teams from the 15 gewogs of Trashigang will be using traditional bows and arrows. Teams are to follow the rules and regulations of the Bhutan Indigenous Sports and Games Association (BIGSA).

Similar tournaments are also happening in the other five dzongkhags of the eastern region. Top two teams from each dzongkhag will qualify for the finals that would be played at Gyalpozhing.

Archers must only Tabzhu and Changzhu bows. Archers are also required to wear their team colour (Nyarey) to differentiate one team from the other.

Apart from the commemoration of the 60th birth anniversary of The Fourth Druk Gyalpo, Trashigang’s Sr. Dzongrab, Pema Dorji said that one of the objectives of KGAT is to promote Bhutan’s national sport.

“Further, the tournament will provide a platform for interaction among people from different places,” the Sr. Dzongrab said.

The Office of The Gyaltshab in Gyalpozhing is organizing the tournament under the command of HRH The Gyaltshab Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.  The KGAT committee will coordinate the tournament and shall act as the dispute settlement body as well.

Meanwhile, the dzongkhag administration should submit the lists of those teams, which have qualified for the final level tournament (FLT), to the Office of The Gyaltshab. Finale is scheduled on October 18

Source: Kuenselonline

Former health minister Sangay Ngedup honoured

In recogniation of their path-breaking interventions that helped improve the health and well-being of people in their countries, the World Health Organisation South-East Asia Region yesterday conferred the Excellence in Public Health awards to former health and education minister Sangay Ngedup and former President of Timor-Leste Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao.

Former minister Sangay Ngedup is recognised for setting up the Bhutan Health Trust Fund (BHTF), to fund vaccines and essential drugs when he served as the director general of Health Services.

Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, who is currently the Minister of Planning and Strategic Investment, has been awarded for building sustainable health services, specifically in training medical doctors.

“The award is an appreciation and acknowledgement of their significant contributions to health care services,” Regional Director WHO South-East Asia Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh said at an event on the sidelines of the WHO Regional Committee meeting in Dili, Timor-Leste. The award comprises of a citation and a plaque.

Sangay Ngedup, who became the director general of Health Services in 1992 and the health and education minister in 1998, brought unprecedented development in the health sector, both quantitatively and qualitatively, states the WHO press release.

During a decade of dedicated service, he oversaw the expansion of health infrastructure as well as health services and left behind the legacy of the BHTF.

Health ministry officials said that the BHTF was the former minister’s brainchild and its main purpose was to put aside a sufficient amount of funds in a trust to ensure the continued funding of two critical components of health services – vaccines and essential drugs. The target capital required for BHTF was estimated at about USD 24 million (M) to accrue the returns that could sufficiently fund the requirements for vaccines and essential drugs for the whole country.

The Trust Fund was established through a Royal Kasho in 1997 to ensure the future provision of preventive and curative health services to the people, independent of the government or donor funding.

In an interview with Kuensel in October 2000, Sangay Ngedup had said that the concept of BHTF arose out of concerns over the sustainability of the present health care system, especially the essential drugs and vaccines, which are the backbone of primary health. He added that the government provides free health care beyond its capacity whereby patients requiring referral or specialised services are referred outside the country.

To raise awareness and support for BHTF, both from within the country and abroad, former mnister Sangay Ngedup undertook the Move for Health, an arduous task of walking from Trashigang in the east of the country to Thimphu, the capital in the west, chalking up a distance of more than 560 kilometers on foot along ancient tracks, and carrying his own rations required for the entire journey of 15 days.

Today, BHTF is close to its target of USD 24M and, in a recent move by the government, the health contribution of all employees is now channelled into BHTF, making it large enough and sustainable to guarantee the availability of all vaccines in the national immunisation programme, and all medicines on the national essential drugs list.

As the President of the country in 2003, Mr Gusmao, had signed a historic agreement with Cuba for building sustainable health system and training medical doctors in Timor-Leste.  Two years later, he signed another agreement with Cuba to train 1,000 Timorese medical doctors. Today all 42 villages in the country have at least one doctor in each of their health centers and health posts.

The WHO awards were initiated last year to recognise public health professionals or institution/ programme, whose work had resulted in far-reaching implications and gains.

Source: Kuenselonline

Taktsang Zhenta Detsuen’s positive impact

The coming together of horse owners, in Tsento Gewog under Paro Dzongkhag, to form an association, has brought about positive impacts in horse riding business.

The members say after the formation of the group, their riding business has become systematic and efficient.

“Previously, some would get to go around twice in a day, while some, who were shy and less experienced, wouldn’t even get a single customer,” said the group’s chairman, Rinchen Dorji.

He said after the association was formed every member gets equal opportunities to make money since the horses are sent out in order of a list.

Horse owners of Tsento Gewog came together to form Taktsang Zhenta Detsuen in March, this year. The 27-member group has established an office at the base of Taktshang.

Members have to bring their horses and the office assigns them with their daily duties.

The group has around 170 horses which are assigned in order.

“I have to open the office by 6:30 AM. When customers come in, I take their order and distribute their orders accordingly,” said the association’s accountant, Thinley.

The horse-owners are now able to concentrate more on their services without having to worry about finding customers.

“Earlier when there was no group there were a lot of problems. We couldn’t concentrate on the quality of our services. Since this group was started everything started to work smoothly,” said a member, Phub Dorji.

Customers have to pay Nu 660 per horse regardless of the business season.

Horse-owners get Nu 600, while Nu 60 is deposited in the association’s Bank account.

The group plans to initiate other small projects, such as a canteen, from the money saved in the bank.


Source: BBS

Bhutan’s saving unique written culture

Traditional calligraphy and xylography in the country are on terminal decline with increasing population being exposed to computers and electronic gadgets, researchers said.

In an attempt to preserve the traditional calligraphic, xyllographic and print culture in the country, experts from around the country are working on the National Library and Archives of Bhutan’s (NLAB) three-year project. German Bhutan Himalaya Society is funding the first phase with Nu 2.16 million.

They are conducting a research on historical significance of ancient calligraphy and xylographic print culture, and making videos of the calligraphic skills. The national library would also have a small museum with various exhibits collected during their research.

The project is divided in to two phases of 18 months each. In the first phase that ends in December 2016, besides collecting initial samples, the researchers would compile and produce a draft book.

One of the researchers and the project consultant, Gregor Verhufen said that the country has a unique written script, a vast and great tradition now threatened by the explosion of technology.

Gregor Verhufen is a German researcher on Tibetan language and culture including its neighbours and has helped create a digital catalogue of the 140,000 texts in the national library in a 10-year project in the early 2000.

“Mgyogs yig (jo-yig), a script introduced to Bhutan by a disciple of Guru Padmasambhawa, Denma Tsemang during the Guru’s second visit is unique to this country,” Gregor said.

However, an English explorer in 1907 discovered a sample of the script in a monastery now called Dunhuang, on the old silk route, in China.

“So the question is how did the script reach thousand of miles away from here, which is interesting to research,” he said. “This is not just significant from a religious point but also from the cultural side.”

Chief research officer of NLAB, (Dr) Yonten Dargye said the project could not lose any more time. “There are still few experts on the writing culture and we would document every aspect of it for preservation,” he said.

“Few years down the line, we may not be able to achieve what we can today.”

Researchers said that without proper research and documentation, the significance of this heritage that forefathers valued may not be properly understood and appreciated by future generations.

Given that great Buddhist masters introduced the preponderance of this heritage to establish national identity, it is important that the most accurate information possible is gathered, analysed, and documented for posterity, researchers said.

The book has eight chapters on topics including traditional paper-making, ink, pen, origin of the Bhutanese script (Mgyogs-yig), xylography, and printing texts, among others.\

Source: Kuenselonline.com