Tourism in Bhutan - Case Study Example

? Tourism In Bhutan Introduction This report looks at the tourism industry of Bhutan. Tourism in the country of Bhutan didn’t start until 1974, when the country first started issuing visas / licenses to tourists. Ever since, the country has seen a phenomenal increase in the number of visitors year after year. This report looks at a SWOT analysis performed on the Bhutanese travel industry and highlights core competencies and weaknesses of the tourism system in Bhutan. There is however, a lot of potential that is undiscovered by the Bhutanese travel authorities. The country experiences cold weather conditions throughout he year and that can enable snow / ice sports in the country. This report gives an in depth view of the current state of the tourism industry and gives recommendations which could be incorporated to make this industry even more lucrative for the country. The Kingdom of Bhutan is located in Southern Asia and has witnessed a rapidly changing tourist industry. The privatization of the Tourism industry can be cited as a major factor which has helped the country to increase its investment. The privatization of the tourism industry has given a way to many companies to launch an initiative which has helped in boosting the tourism of the country. However the government of Bhutan has been very cautious when implementing the policies of tourism within the country so that it does not affect the economy of the country negatively. This essay would further revolve around these issues and put a comprehensive end to the benefits that the tourism industry has brought to the country. Tourism In Bhutan Geographical Location The Kingdom Of Bhutan is one of the smaller states in Southern Asia. Its key immediate neighbors are China and India. Even though the country is really small in terms of its geographical size, the occupants of the country are believed to be the happiest compared to the inhabitants of all other countries in Asia as per a report published by the Business Week Magazine in 2006. Tourism Industry of Bhutan Tourism in Bhutan has been experiencing a constant increase ever since 1974, when the Government of Bhutan all started issuing travel licenses to foreign visitors into the isolated country. The Bhutan Tourism Corporation or the BTC was solely responsible for handing tourism related matters of the country until 1991 (Cooper, 2001). The country’s government however, decided in 1991 to privatize and corporation in an attempt to boost up the tourism as well as facilitate private sector investment into the tourism into the industry. With the help of the efforts put in by the government, the country now has more then seventy five fully licensed tour operating companies. Government involvement in the Tourism Industry As mentioned above, it is the Bhutanese government that is responsible for tourism planning inside the country. The government however is reluctant to issue a great number of visit visas to tourists as it thinks of the acute impact increased tourism could have on the environment and culture of the country. However, if tourism is properly planned and managed by the government, alongside providing appropriate input required to boost tourist activity, then the local travel industry can easily outshine the expected growth plans without having any negative or acute impact on the environment of the country. There are already several initiatives taken by the country to boost up its tourism. The government is busy in looking for resources to finance the expansion costs. A very smart measure taken by the government is to bring all tourism related stake holders on board while drafting a new tourism related policy. This will make sure that the new tourism policy does not only represent the wishes of the State but also takes into account the views of stake holders like travel managers and tour operators who play an essential part in promoting the tourism of the country (Cooper, 2001). Objectives of the Tourism Industry The main objective of Bhutan’s tourism industry is to generate revenue for the country, publicize the image of Bhutan as a country with a rich eco system, one which has a lot to offer to its tourists from cultural beauty to the epic range of Himalayas and beyond. Another objective of the country’s tourism policy is to play an essential part in development of the country socio economically. The tourism industry in the country has also helped to create a lot of jobs at a time when unemployment is on the rise. However, it needs to be noticed here that tourism has not only created direct employment in terms of providing employment to tour guides and hotel managers etc. but it has also helped in proving employment to thousands of other people in an indirect manner. For instance tourists are often interested in finding out about the local culture and traditions and therefore many people start working (and therefore jobs are created) as singers and dancers on traditional Bhutanese folk music. Many other Bhutanese people have subsequently found employment in the form of restaurant owners, transport providers and hospitality service providers. A fund by the name of Tourism Development Fund was created by the Department of Tourism Bhutan in 1999 to help in funding the development of tourism in the country. The main objective of this fund is to maintain infrastructure facilities that are used by the visitors, develop and discover new tourist hot spots in the country and finally to market the Bhutanese tourist market abroad. SWOT of the Tourism Industry A SWOT (strength, opportunity, weakness and threat) analysis is often carried out to determine the internal and external strengths and weaknesses of a company. This SWOT analysis determines factors which are essential to the success of a company. Strengths Strengths are usually defined as those characteristics of a business or an operation that give it an advantage over others in the same field. Bhutan’s position in South Asia itself can be considered one of its strengths. The Himalayas situated in the country are something that aren’t found elsewhere in the world. Consequently, people from all walks of live have to come to Bhutan to experience the Himalayas. This natural attraction makes sure that Bhutan receives tons of visitors throughout the year. Bhutan should spend on maintaining its eco system and culture so as to make sure this inflow of visitors at least remains constant, if it doesn’t increase much, as years pass by. Weaknesses Weaknesses or limitations are those characteristics of a business or an organization which put it at a disadvantageous position as compared to its competitors. A major weakness in Bhutan’s tourism structure is that it lacks proper tour guides. Even though there are a lot of guides in the country but most of them do not know much about places. They only tend to take people to famous hotspots and miss out on less famous but breath taking ones. Lack of well trained tour guides means they can’t take you for tours on bird watching, photography and floral / underwater ranges. Opportunities Opportunities refer to external chances that are available to and can be grabbed by a company or an organization to improve their performance in their macro business environment. Even though the tourism sector has created a lot employment there still remains a lot of potential that is undiscovered (Block, Becker & TV Choice Productions, 2008). There are a lot of mountains and scenic points to which can’t be reached due to lack of infrastructure facilities. These places present a breathtaking view and if proper infrastructure facilities can be put into place then they will not only help to increase tourism in those areas, but also make such areas accessible to people thereby resulting in development and possibly relocation of people to such areas. Threats Threats are external factors in a business which could often be a serious cause of concern for a company’s success. Looking at the tourism sector of Bhutan, there are a significant number of threats it is exposed to. Neighboring countries like India and Pakistan have been spending a lot of money on their tourism activities. In the recent years these two neighboring countries have taken on large scale media campaigns to promote their tourism hot spots. Comparatively, Bhutan has not been so active in its media campaigns and that might actually mean visitors who are wanting to visit Asia might actually opt for either of India or Pakistan over Bhutan. Another deadly threat faced by Bhutan comes in the face of increased terrorism attacks. In recent times most Asian countries have been facing the threat of terrorism. A few highly affected countries include Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Iran. With foreign governments often putting travel bans on Asian countries and advising their citizens from traveling into such countries, Bhutan needs to make sure it takes strict steps to avoid terrorism on its home soil (Block, Becker & TV Choice Productions, 2008). It is fairly essential for Bhutan to implement strict anti terrorism policies and be well aware of its international image. Bhutan should also be ready to defend its image when other foreign countries issue adverse travel warnings for travel to the country. Tourism statistics based on a survey by Paul Rogers The following figures were derived from a survey carried out by Paul Rogers, by the name of “Bhutan’s Tourism Associations Lead The Way”. The following pointers depict essential information about tourism in Bhutan, * In 2009 alone, over $31 million were made on account of gross annual tourism earnings * Bhutan has more than 600 tour operators who are licensed to operate and promote tourism in the country * The country has more then 109 hotels ready to cater international tourists. However, the top 12 cater to 35% of all the tourists received in the country. * Visitors in Bhutan on average spend a minimum of $200 a day. Celebrities are also known to visit the country for spiritual purposes. Initiatives taken by the government Looking at the tourist market of Bhutan, the government decided to introduce a couple of policies aimed at boosting up the tourist industry. In earlier years, the Royal Bhutanese Government always felt that increased tourism could cause damage to their environment and rich culture. Therefore, during those days the government had introduced a policy of “low volume with high return tourism”. This policy simply meant that not much people would be allowed to travel into Bhutan, and the one’s who would be allowed would be such that they have a rich and reputable background and have not been associated with any act causing harm to the environment in the past. Bhutan’s tourism policy is a very comprehensive one and deals with even the most minor issues that one could think of. For instance, concerns for preservation and maintenance of the country’s culture and eco system are highly valued by the Bhutanese government and therefore all these the Bhutanese travel policy is made in such a way that it voices / lists these concerns. Bhutan is also considering now to invest heavy sums of money in media campaigns to promote its image as a tourist country throughout the world. Consequently, the Bhutanese government has invested heavy sums of money on the country’s infrastructure, development of tourist destinations and providing proper hospitality services. The government also plans to develop new markets in the country as it looks at possible options of getting involved in international trade. It is interesting how tourism planning is implemented in the country of Bhutan. The Government of Bhutan was initially responsible for all the tourism related planning in the country. However looking at the market trends, the Government decided to hand over the tour operations to the Tourism Corporation which was formed in 1983 (Bhutan, 2004). The corporation successfully carried on its operations in the hope of achieving an increase in the rate visitors coming in the country. However, the government decided in 1991 that its now time to give travel managers a chance to boost up the country’s tourism image and therefore 75 licenses were issues to tour operators in the same year in a bid to privatize the tourism operations. Privatizing the tour operations did not mean that the government completely let go of its control. The government still had the upper hand as it looked over all the tour operators through a regulatory body formed especially for this purpose, called the Tourism Authority of Bhutan. The Travel Authority of Bhutan was subsequently renamed as the Department of Tourism as initially served under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. However, as the government subsequently realized the worth the tourism industry, the tourism department was recognized as a separate industry and given full autonomy and was allowed to worked directly under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister Of Bhutan. Alongside being granted full autonomy its name was changed to the Tourism Council Of Bhutan (Bhutan, 2004). Recommendations There are a lot of changes which could be brought in place to significantly boost up the tourism industry of Bhutan. Doing so would not only create a lot of jobs for local people but would also improve the image of Bhutan as a friendly tourist nation abroad. Let’s start of discussing each possible factor one at a time. Bhutan is a culturally as well as geographically blessed city. The cool climate of the country makes it an ideal place for snow related events to take place. Bhutan can be promoted in the international circles as a place where most ice related sporting events can take place. One day possibly, Bhutan could even host the Winter Olympics. However to do all this, a lot of input is required from the Bhutanese Government. The Government should develop stadiums and spend money on promoting ice sports. Similarly, the Government needs to step into the international arena and bid for international sporting events to take place in the country. Another step which can boost up the tourism industry is signing international tourism deals with famous tour and travel operators. This would mean that when clients come to them and ask for travel hotspots, they will present the case of Bhutan and ask people to visit it and explore its beauty. Conclusion To sum it all up, the Bhutan is a beautiful country. Tourism in the country can be promoted by taking help from other tourist countries who are famous for their tourism. This contact can well be made on a governmental basis with the Bhutanese government asking governments of let’s say Switzerland or Malaysia to help them with their tourism related strategies and policies. Bhutan one of a kind and the efforts it has done to preserve its environment and eco system need to be applauded. However there is still a lot that could be done to bring Bhutan up in the tourism circles and increase its international image. With time, I believe Bhutan can make it to the list of countries people love to visit a lot. References Cooper, R. (2001). Bhutan. New York: Marshall Cavendish. Bhutan. (2004). Environmental code of practice: Tourism activities. Thimphu: National Environment Commission, Royal Govt. of Bhutan. Block, T., Becker, B., & TV Choice Productions. (2008).Impact of globalisation: Bhutan : tourism, tv & happiness. Bromley, Kent: TV Choice Productions. Bottom of Form Read More