According to the Bhutan Tourism Monitor report, Bhutan has welcomed a total of 52,429 tourists from January to August of 2020. This number is significantly lower than the previous year, where over 139,000 tourists visited the country in the same period. The report further states that the majority of visitors came from India, followed by the United States and Bangladesh.
The decrease in tourist numbers is attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in the closure of the country’s borders in March. Despite the restrictions, the country is slowly reopening its borders to select tourists from low-risk countries and regions.
The government has also implemented a new Tourism Recovery Plan to help mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic on the tourism industry. The plan includes components such as marketing and promotion campaigns, incentivizing the travel industry, and improving infrastructure.
Overall, the country is hoping to increase the number of tourists despite the pandemic so that the tourism industry can recover and continue to thrive.
