The Bhutanese Leading the way.
In a major change and development in the tourism sector the government has decided that the first 15,000 Bangladeshi tourists every year will only have to pay USD 15 per day as SDF compared to USD 100 per day now.
This is equivalent to what the Indian tourists are currently paying at Rs 1,200 per day.
This special scheme will be launched from 2nd June 2024 onwards and will extend till 2027 with 15,000 tourists every year getting the special rate.
A senior official said this is not to achieve the 300,000 a year tourism target but as a special gesture to Bangladesh after the visit of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen to Bangladesh.
This will be welcome news for the tourism industry as Bangladesh was the second largest source market for tourists in 2019.
In 2019 there were a total of 315,599 tourists of which 230,381 were from India followed by 13,016 from Bangladesh.
However, in 2019 there was no SDF for Indian and Bangladeshi tourists so the numbers will definitely not be as high as 2019.
Bangladeshi tourists are expected to come carrying US dollars and past data shows that most of them come by flight to Bhutan and so this will also help the airlines.
A Tourism official said that for Bangladeshis wanting to come to Bhutan they can apply for online visas and the same tourism rules that applies to all other tourists will apply on them like guides, hotel category etc.
It has been learnt that ever since the USD 200 tariff was announced for all, except for India which has to pay Rs 1,200, the Bangladesh government at various levels from the Embassy in Bhutan to ministers in Bangladesh have been requesting Bhutan for the same SDF as India.
It came up frequently during trade and transit talks with Bangladesh and also at Foreign Ministry level talks between the two sides since 2022.
Bangladesh is not only Bhutan’s second largest export market but it is also the only country with which Bhutan has a trade surplus.
The two countries also signed the Transit Agreement and Protocol or establishing arrangements for multi-modal communication channels via road, water ways, railways and airways between Bangladesh and Bhutan.
An agreement is soon to be signed that will allow Bhutanese trucks into Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has also offered its sea ports to Bhutan for import and export including to and from third countries.
Bangladesh has also agreed to give discounts for Bhutan’s third internet gateway.
The highlight was during the recent visit of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen when Bangladesh offered Bhutan a 200 Acre Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Kurigram bordering Assam and not very far away from Gelephu and Phuentsholing.
The two countries also have historically close ties since the formation of modern Bangladesh when Bhutan was the first country in the world to recognize it apart from His Majesty The Third King personally leading initiatives to fund raise and help Bangladesh in its difficult stage.
