Bhutan reopens borders to international tourists after 2 years, Indian visitors to pay INR 1,200 per day fee

(IBNS): After shutting its doors to international tourists for two and a half years owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, Bhutan re-opened its borders on Friday.

The reopening has come with a revised tourism levy, called the Sustainable Development Fee.

With the reopening of the borders, Bhutan raised its Sustainable Development Fee to USD 200 per visitor per night from the USD 65 it had been charging foreign tourists for the last three decades.

Indians were not charged anything before the pandemic began, but as per the new rules, they now have to pay a sum of INR 1200.

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However, the revised fee for Indian tourists was never implemented.

In March 2020, Bhutan shut its borders to visitors, which is a major source of income for the country, after detecting its first case of Covid-19.

The Himalayan Kingdom of fewer than 800,000 people has reported a little over 61,000 infections and only 21 deaths. However, its economy has suffered in the last two years, causing a spike in poverty.

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