The Bhutanese Leading the way.
According to the Minister of the Ministry Industry, Commerce, and Employment (MoICE), Namgyal Dorji, plans are underway to develop activities such as river rafting, jet ski services, and bungee jumping, as well as community-based initiatives like tourism development in the Pachu area.
The MoICE Minister said these initiatives aim to diversify and improve the tourism experience in and around Phuentsholing, encouraging longer visitor stays. The strategy also includes enhanced infrastructure, cultural itineraries, regional tourism circuits, and opportunities for business events, with the broader goal of positioning Phuentsholing as a value-added destination.
Currently, nine Department of Tourism (DoT)-certified hotels cater to tourists in Phuentsholing. The MoICE Minister also said that the ministry fully recognizes the pressures the sector is under, and that the 24-hour Sustainable Development Fee (SDF) waiver in border towns remains a key measure to attract visitors to stay locally and ensure fair competition with hotels in Jaigaon.
Destination management and fair competition standards at the border are also being strengthened. At the same time, the government continues to support local hotels with subsidies to participate in international travel fairs and Tourism Bhutan roadshows, giving them direct access to source markets. However, Lyonpo Namgyal Dorji said that greater private investment from hotels themselves is also required for marketing and promotion.
Addressing financial challenges in the sector, the Minister said that loan deferments have ended, causing stress for many hotels. To address this, the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) has extended loan restructuring options, while the ESP Steering Committee has already decided to seek Cabinet approval to extend the ESP Reinvigoration Fund to the hotel industry. This will support a 4 percent interest subsidy.
In parallel, RMA has called on financial institutions to explore a further 1 percent reduction in interest rates on existing hotel loans for a certain number of years. These measures are currently under active discussion.
However, hoteliers in Phuenthsoling say all of the above will not have much of an impact in the long term as long as the issue of the SDF is not addressed with the current 24 hours wiaver not being enough.
They say the SDF is slowly but surely killing Phuentsholing and instead leading to a hotel boom across the border in Jaigaon. Hotels have been requesting for a 72 hours SDF exemption at least.
