• Bhutan welcomes visitors back after Covid with honey, turmeric, and SIM cards

    National
    Bhutan welcomes visitors back after Covid with honey, turmeric, and SIM cards




     Digital Desk: " Atithi Devo Bhava" 


    Twenty-three foreign visitors arrived in Bhutan on Friday,
    the first since the Himalayan kingdom reopened its borders after more than two
    years of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with officials hoping tourism
    will help revive the local economy.



    The country known for its natural beauty and ancient Buddhist culture,
    tucked between China and India, first opened to wealthy tourists in 1974.



     



    After detecting its
    first case of Covid-19, it closed its borders to visitors, a major source of
    revenue, in March 2020.



    The constitutional
    monarchy of less than 800,000 people reported just over 61,000 infections and
    21 deaths in the last two fiscal years, but the $3 billion economy contracted
    in the last two fiscal years, pushing more people into poverty.



     



    "Tourism is more
    than just revenue for us," said Dorji Dhradhul, Director General of the
    Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB), after greeting the first visitors at the
    country's only international airport in Paro, near Thimphu.



     



    He stated that the
    tiny country desired to be "very much a part of the entire world."



    "We believe that
    through tourism, we can do that... take advantage of their support and
    goodwill," he said . 




    According to the
    authorities, each visitor who arrived aboard the first flight from Kathmandu in
    neighbouring Nepal was given small packs of organic honey, tea, Bhutanese
    turmeric, and a local SIM card in a tote bag as a gift.



     



    Bhutan raised its Sustainable Development Fee from $65 to
    $200 per visitor per night in July, saying it wanted to welcome more tourists
    who could spend money. Officials said the fees would be used to offset
    tourists' carbon footprints by planting trees, upskilling tourism workers,
    maintaining hiking trails, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and electrifying
    transportation vehicles.



    according to a report,  approximately 315,600 tourists
    visited in 2019, up 15.1% from the previous year, with visitors contributing
    approximately $84 million to the economy on average each year for the three
    years preceding the pandemic.





    slot thailandslot gacorsabung ayam onlinesabung ayam onlinesabung ayam onlineslot thailandlive casino onlinehttps://ecosukces.pl/slothttps://delalibera.com.br/indojawa88sv388agen bolasabung ayam onlinesabung ayam onlinelive casino onlinesabung ayam onlinelive baccaratsipardikemenaglebongtppkk bitunggs hospitalsarwadharma hospital gwlpeasant farmersppdb yayasan pendidikan assalamgoji berryhttps://www.undp.or.id/https://mtsmathlaulanwarputat.sch.id/https://www.smpn2karangsambung.sch.id/slot gacorhttps://ociterrasus.com/https://psb.al-asyariyyah.com/live casinodpd ipai jatimhttps://yplppgrikabbogor.com/https://smkveterancirebon.sch.id/https://www.min2jember.sch.id/https://sditfatahillahskh.sch.id/https://ichisultra.or.id/https://banggaiemas.org/https://pdamagam.co.id/https://www.man1acehbarat.sch.id/https://lib.stishusnulkhotimah.ac.id/https://www.stieyapismerauke.ac.id/https://yayasanpendidikanassalam.sch.id/smp/vendor/slot onlinelive casino onlinesabung ayam onlinesbobethttps://stechdigitalsolutions.com/https://webzsparkle.com/SABUNG AYAM ONLINELIVE CASINO ONLINESBOBET88SLOT777SV388SLOT DANAsabung ayam onlineslot mahjong waysagen bola sbobetjudi bolaLive Casino Onlinesabung ayam onlineslot thailandslot777SLOT ZEUSSABUNG AYAMCASINO ONLINESBOBETMahjong Ways 2Slot88 OnlineLive Casino OnlineSbobetSV388https://valuemc.comhttps://qbc-solutions.comhttps://mbauto.rohttps://apelphotography.comhttps://investmate.pro/cgi/https://investmate.pro/Text/https://investmate.pro/File/https://investmate.pro/Fold/Sabung Ayam OnlineSitus Judi BolaSitus Live Casino OnlineMahjong Ways 2Live Casino OnlineSV388SV388CASINO ONLINE SCATTER HITAMSBOBETslot gacor thailandslot zeusLive Casino Onlinesabung ayam onlineagen sabung ayam onlineslot thailandsabung ayam onlinesbobetSABUNG AYAM ONLINESLOT GACOR 777SITUS TOGEL ONLINESBOBET88SLOT ZEUS OLYMPUSSLOT KAKEK ZEUSSBOBET MIX PARLAYSV388SLOT THAILANDsv388casino onlinesbobet wapzeus slothttps://amarhome.org/https://crcchristhill.org/https://drsummerasaud.com/sv388sbobet88live casino onlinezeus slotsv388mix parlay sbobetcasino onlinescatter hitamindopromaxindopromaxindopromaxindopromaxindopromaxindopromaxindopromaxindopromaxhakone-kamon.jphakone-kamon.jphakone-kamon.jphakone-kamon.jpslot zeus gacorsabung ayam onlinejudi bola onlinelive casino onlinesitus live casinositus sabung ayamsitus sabung ayamsiitus judi bolasitus live casinojudi bola onlinelive casino onlineslot qris gacorsbobetslot thailandcasino onlinesbobetsv388casino onlineslot gacorsbobetsv388sabung ayam sv388sbobet88live casino onlinelink slot777result hongkong poolsSabung Ayam OnlineSBOBET88Agen Casino OnlineSlot777Situs Togel Onlinehttps://www.tripusakasakti.com/https://fabriku.com/SBOBET88Starlight PrincessMahjong Ways 2 Scatter HitamTrik Mahjong WaysMahjong WaysCasino OnlineSlot Mahjong Wayssbobet88sv388scatter hitammahjong ways