Bhutan International Tourism System: Fact Sheet and Economic Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Bhutan's international tourism system. It examines visitor trends, revealing that the United States contributes the most tourists. The report discusses the impact of the National Day holiday on visitor numbers and the importance of increasing visitor spending to boost the hotel and tourism industry's profitability. It also provides data on tourist arrivals and the growth in the market, particularly after the Nalakahng Festival. The report delves into accommodation options, including the number of hotels and occupancy rates, highlighting the government's efforts to improve competitiveness. Furthermore, it assesses the economic influence of tourism on Bhutan's GDP, which is a significant contributor to the country's economy. The report also identifies major tourist attractions, such as Gangkhar Puensum and the Tiger's Nest Monastery, and notes the activities that draw tourists to Bhutan. The references include various sources on Bhutan's tourism and economic development.

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International tourism system
4/13/2019

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Fact Sheet:
International visitors
Bhutan is one of the best places in a tourist destination. It is stated that tourism is the pillar
for the economy of Bhutan due to the reason that it is the most likable and peaceful tourist
destination for the people living all around the world. The government plays a major effort to
increase revenue, profitability, and promote Bhutanese unique traditions & culture to the
outside world. They initiate the effort in making the place attractive and popular as well as
providing them with the facilities that induce them and forces them to visit the place with
excitement (Santini, Tran and Beath, 2017).
(Tourism.gov.bt, 2019)
The above diagram depicts the arrivals of visitors to Bhutan and their origin. This figure
shows that the numbers of U.S. visitors are more as compared to other international visitors
for Bhutan. If the year 2018 has been discussed, it has been recognized that in initial times of
the weeklong National day holiday has indicated 3.1% in the visitors from the last year. It has

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also been identified that the visitor was not spending much time at the destination as they
commonly leave the place, which is not giving profitability and growth to the hotels and
tourism industry.
It is stated that as far as tourism is concerned, the main source of income in Bhutan is from
the United States of America inbound tourism. If the analysis of the above-specified figure
has been done that it discusses that 16.67% of the total tourist in Hong Kong is from the
U.S.A (Strickland, 2019).
(Tradingeconomics.com, 2019)
Data associated with the tourist arrival in Bhutan, which is increased to 10580 in November
as compared to October i.e. 8135 after the Nalakahng Festival. The response of the market
was profitable as growth was indicated in the Bhutan market. It is stated that an increase in
the tourist is because of the tourist attraction towards Nalakahng Festival and Paro Taktasang,
which assist the economy of Bhutan to sustain and develop. The number of visitors increased
at a very fast pace and contributed towards the US $2 million in annual revenue. They need to
plan and induce the tourist towards various activities and programmes conducted over the
years. They need to continue engage them towards incurring investment and growth in the
country (Drukpa et al., 2017).

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Accommodation options
Bhutan consists of around 300 hotels until November 2018 as these hotels collectively deliver
87000 rooms for the tourist. It is stated that as the occupancy rate has been considered, it has
been recognized that in 2016 the hotel occupancy rate at Bhutan was 87% that was reduced
by 3% and reached to 84%. This deduction is due to the shorter span of time of the visitors at
Bhutan. The administration has developed several programs to improve the competitiveness
in the hotel and tourism industry at Bhutan.
It is stated from the above diagram, which depicts the changes in the occupancy rate of the
hotel at Bhutan from 2004 to 2016. The main hotels have been considered as located in
Central & western Bhutan i.e. Bumthang, Thimphu, and Paro. The hotels, which are located
in the eastern part of Bhutan is Samdrup Jongkhar and Mongar. These hotels offer full
facilities to the tourists with luxurious room along with the immense experience of tasty food.
They offer visitors with diverse packages that involve the food, stay, and the visit of the
destination.
It is stated that over a few years, hotels chains have developed a few deluxe hotels and resorts
in the major countryside in Bhutan. These resorts probably maintain international comfort
incorporated with culture, art, and tradition. Their hotels maintain an offering of clean,
reasonable, decent, and comfortable accommodation (Khaitan, 2018).
The economic influence of tourism on GDP
Tourism is the main source of economy for Bhutan as it directly or indirectly influences the
GDP and economy of the place. As per the recent statistics, it has been stated that the tourism
sector accounts for around 14.7% contribution in the GDP directly. The government has

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concentrated on the growth of the high-quality tourism as a way to prevent the environment
and reduce the effect of disrupting influences on the tradition and culture (Hoy et al., 2016).
(Tradingeconomics.com, 2019)
As per the figure, it has been noticed that the GDP in Bhutan has expanded 8 percent in 2017
as compared to the previous year. This decreasing figure recommended that the tourism
industry should make an effort in inducing the tourist from other nations to Bhutan in order to
raise its economy with the assistance of the tourism sector.
Tourism attraction at Bhutan
Gangkhar Puensum is the greatest mountain, and thus becomes the place of tourist attraction.
It is stated that it is the highest unclimbed mountain in the world, which attracts people to
visit the place. The efforts of the government to encourage the place as the tourist destination
assist in making this place a preferred choice for the tourist to visit. It majorly focuses on the
tourism industry in respect of finance and most of the population is involved in the hospitality
sector. Therefore, variation in the hospitality and tourism industry greatly enhances the
economy. In respect of the Tiger’s Nest Monastery, it is the place, which is a very peaceful
and beautiful forest. Other amazing `place to visit Bhutan is Punakha Dzong, Zuri Dzong
Hike, Paro Hotel, and Gangtey Valley. Paro Hotel is the place that can be visited by the
tourists for business as well as leisure. This is because it permits the people to spend most of
the time in holidays with a lot of excitements and provides facilities to operate business
meetings. It is stated that if the major activities are to be considered that acts as the main

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reason to visit. It is stated that the most attractive center overlooks the Paro Valley, which is
immensely scared to Buddhists (Ray, 2015).

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References
Drukpa, D., Gautier, S., Cattin, R., Namgay, K. and Le Moigne, N. (2017) Impact of near-
surface fault geometry on secular slip rate assessment derived from uplifted river terraces:
implications for convergence accommodation across the frontal thrust in southern Central
Bhutan. Geophysical Journal International, 212(2), pp.1315-1330.
Hoy, A., Katel, O., Thapa, P., Dendup, N. and Matschullat, J. (2016) Climatic changes and
their impact on socio-economic sectors in the Bhutan Himalayas: An implementation
strategy. Regional environmental change, 16(5), pp.1401-1415.
Khaitan, T. (2018) Directive principles and the expressive accommodation of ideological
dissenters. International Journal of Constitutional Law, 16(2), pp.389-420.
Ray, N. (2015) Tourism Motivational Factors in Bhutan: An Empirical Study. In Emerging
Innovative Marketing Strategies in the Tourism Industry, 44(7), pp. 231-241.
Santini, M., Tran, T.T. and Beath, A. (2017) Investment Climate Assessment of Bhutan:
Removing Constraints to Private Sector Development to Enable the Creation of More and
Better Jobs. Sustainable development, 34(7), pp.56-78.
Strickland, P. (2019) Hotel and Tourism Management Education in Bhutan: The Creation of
the Royal Institute of Tourism and Hospitality. In Tourism Education and Asia, 33(8), pp.
107-124.
Tourism.gov.bt. (2019). [online] Available at:
https://www.tourism.gov.bt/uploads/attachment_files/tcb_6cWG_Bhutan%20Tourism
%20Monitor%202018.pdf [Accessed 13 Apr. 2019].
Tradingeconomics.com. (2019). Bhutan GDP Annual Growth Rate | 2019 | Data | Chart |
Calendar | Forecast. [online] Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/bhutan/gdp-growth-
annual [Accessed 13 Apr. 2019].
Tradingeconomics.com. (2019). Bhutan Tourist Arrivals | 2019 | Data | Chart | Calendar |
Forecast | News. [online] Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/bhutan/tourist-arrivals
[Accessed 13 Apr. 2019].

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