Skip to main content

Tourists and star rated hotels: Welcome to Bhutan

Photo:Zhiwaling Hotel
Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) has announced the hotel ratings (Business Bhutan) where 8 hotels were rated five stars, 6 were rated four and 20 fall in three stars category. And we are given to understand as per the government’s rule only those hotels that have three star ratings and above can host tourists. Going by this calculation, only 34 hotels in the country can rightfully host tourists. Isn’t it something? Of course TCB says 65 two stars rated and 20 one star rated hotels can upgrade themselves to higher ratings within one year and 2 years respectively.

Our government is trying to bring in 100,000 odd tourists by 2012 and its 2010 annual target is 35,000 tourists. We can already see these stars-rated hotels getting busier by the day. And thousands of small hotels will hardly benefit from the increased number of tourists. All these again point to rich folks making bigger bucks. I don’t have the credentials and expertise to criticize the policy. But the impact is for everyone to judge.  
Photo: Uma Paro

Tourists come to Bhutan (or any other country for that matter) from the luxury of their homes, towns and cities around the world for a unique Bhutanese experience. This is on the premise that all tourists are rich people, which is what we assume in the third world country. And these tourists want to see real Bhutan: its serene beauty, its original cuisines, traditional and cultural icons, the way people eat, dress, talk et al.

But in Bhutan they are being treated with food that they have eaten all their lives, the hotel rooms the likes of which they have grown up in, with luxurious swimming pools, refreshing saunas and spas. Apparently I don’t think any tourists would want to experience what they can experience back home. I doubt whether they would want to be treated in extravagant palace-like hotels. They want unique experience, meeting and eating with common people in common restaurants.

Not many tourists get to experience what is real; what is really Bhutan. 

(Photo Credit: www.ampersandtravel.com)  

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 16, 2010 at 9:34 AM

    I plan to visit Bhutan for the first time in October and will be very disappointed if I am isolated from mixing with local citizens and eating local cuisine

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

So what do you think?

Popular posts from this blog

Utpal Academy - Bhutan's first All-girls High School

Academic Block Welcome to Bhutan’s first all-girls school. Isn’t that wonderful news to all our parents? Certainly, as a parent of a one-year old daughter I am excited about the coming of a school exclusively dedicated to the needs of girls. Our girls need special treatment, which we can for sure entrust the responsibility to Utal Academy, Paro. Dinning Hall I really like the name – Utpal – in Buddhist world, Utpal is another name for lotus flower, which is believed to grow from mud and yet blossoms into a beautiful and majestic flower. It stands for purity and many deities are depicted holding flower Utpal, more prominently Jestusn Dolma, the Goddess Tara. Symbolically, it also stands for the transformation of our girls. What an apt name for the school! Hostel Room The Principal’s message posted on the academy’s website promises providing our young women an “opportunity to participate fully in a wide range of extracurricular activities to develop skills and qualities that...
9 comments
Read more...

Community of Bhutanese Bloggers Conceived

And finally it happened. I must say that it was by far the most attended Bloggers Meet. In the past we had bloggers agree to attend and cancel at the very last minute. But on June 24, 2015 – almost 100% of bloggers, who confirmed came. I would like to thank everyone for keeping his/her words, especially those who had to come all the way from Wangdue or Paro. Thank you! 35 Bhutanese bloggers met in Thimphu. We were honored to have the presence of senior bloggers like Aue Yeshi Dorji and Dasho Sangay Khandu. The meeting assumed more significance because of their presence. Equally, we were happy to have many young bloggers in whom we see so much enthusiasm and potential. On top of many things that transpired during the Meet, one of the most significant outcomes was the unanimous decision reached to form a formal group of bloggers, a platform aimed at encouraging and inspiring more bloggers around the country. The members decided that we will call it Community of Bhutanese Blogger...
16 comments
Read more...

When FIVE is more than FIVE HUNDRED

Bhutanese parents complain that our children are exposed to so much foreign content and that they might soon forget our own root. Some parents also feel that their children respond well and better to stories that have Bhutanese characters and places in them. That's why the need for more and better Bhutanese books in the market. And we have only a handful of people who are committed to making this happen although the financial return is almost none.   Bhutan can boast of not many writers. Here writing or publishing aspect of writing is an expensive hobby. In the first place, it is difficult to convince people to publish their writings and many leave it before they are halfway. Publishing is a complicated process. But here it is even more complicated since our publishers are not publishers in the real sense of the term. They would only 'publish' (print) school textbooks and in that they are only being wise - averting risks to their businesses.  Recently, the whole...
17 comments
Read more...