Bhutan Announces To Levy ‘Visa Fee’ On Indian Tourists

Bhutan – A nation that does not measure prosperity and development by calculating GDP but by GNH – Gross National Happiness, is something that makes it different. The last Himalayan Kingdom with mesmerizing beauty spread across every corner of the country attracts huge number of travelers every year. Bhutan is among those travel destinations that are still unexploited and comparatively not industrialized like other travel destinations. In 2018, 200,000 travelers visited Bhutan which is approximately 10% higher than in 2017. The number is increasing every year, sparking the fear among Bhutanese people that it will become just another mass tourism destination.

In order to keep their unique Himalayan Kingdom’s ecology unexploited, Bhutan’s lower house of parliament passed legislation on Monday, citing that visitors from India have to pay a fee of 1200 ngultrums (USD 16.85) per day from July. Bhutan is introducing a Visa fee (Sustainable Development Fee) for  tourists from neighboring countries, so they can maintain their cherished ecology.