(TAN): Bhutan is planning to start a ‘Bubble Tourism’ initiative with India, reports said. As part of this, the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) recently urged the health ministry to ease the current 21 days quarantine restrictions for all visitors by cutting it down to three days or withdrawing it altogether.
If accepted, the Himalayan country will then be expected to focus on ‘Bubble Tourism.’ Also known as Green Lanes or Travel Corridors, Bubble Tourism is a travelling partnership between two countries with a high success rate in containing Covid-19.
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With only 245 Covid-19 cases and no deaths in a country of 780,000, Bhutan attracts tourists with its virgin beauty. On the other hand, the contraction or death ratio versus the population of India is also much better than several developed nations.
“This initiative is a very positive move. As the concept demands a suitable partner country, for Bhutan, its next door neighbour India is the best suited one,” a tourism consultant said.
As an additional advantage, citizens of the both countries do not need a passport or visa to cross the international border in between, thanks to a friendship treaty between India and Bhutan.
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Bhutan had closed its borders for foreign tourists since the end of March and this has adversely affected the tourism industry of the country. Bhutan has lost 90% of its tourism business because of this. On the other side of the border, the tourism sector in eastern India is also badly hit.
The travel companies and tour operators of Eastern India hope the proposed Indo-Bhutan bubble tourism can compensate this loss to a great extent for both the countries.
