Bhutan’s Radical Approach to Overtourism

Executive Producer: Tom Grahsler
Senior Producer: Michael Olcott
Producer: Michaela Winberg
Associate Producer: Bibiana Correa
Additional Production: Sushmita Pathak
Editor: Meg Driscoll
Original Music: Catherine Anderson
Mixing and Sound Design: Emma Munger
Engineers: Al Banks, Charlie Kaier, Diana Martinez
Tile Art: Nick Rogacki

Peak Travel is a production of WHYY, distributed by PRX, and part of the NPR podcast network.

[SOUND OF BIRDS CHIRPING, INDISTINCT CHATTER]

SUSHMITA PATHAK, PRODUCER: The Big Buddha is, like, this huge Buddha statue on the top of a hill just outside Thimphu.

TARIRO MZEZEWA, HOST: Producer Sushmita Pathak is walking at the base of a series of mountains in the Kingdom of Bhutan — a small country in the Himalayas nestled between India and China.

[MUSIC]

SP: It’s a place almost every tourist, everyone who visits Bhutan goes to and there was just something very peaceful and very spiritual about that place.

TM: She noticed prayer flags fluttering near the statue, each color representing an element of nature: fire, water, wind, earth, and sky.

SP: And even though it is, like, one of the most popular tourist spots, there were hardly any tourists.

TM: Sushmita spoke to Samiksha Bedekar, a traveler there who seemed similarly enamored with the breathtaking landscape, and the culture that had protected it.

SAMIKSHA BEDEKAR: I have read about Bhutan very long back, about how this is free from carbon emissions, the history and the culture of this country has never get colonized. This country is true to their roots, preserving their culture, and they know how to say “No.” What is this mettle that these people are made of that they have preserved this culture so strongly?

TM: As she stood in front of the giant Buddha statue, Sushmita felt lucky to be surrounded by Bhutan’s natural beauty.

SP: I could hear the buzzing of the insects there.

[SOUND OF INSECTS BUZZING]

Which really struck me, like, when I go to a tourist spot in India, the dominant noise is that of the tourists.

TM: And it’s not just India. If you go to any major travel destination anywhere in the world, the Colosseum, the Eiffel Tower, Machu Picchu, every spot is so mobbed with people, you can barely experience the thing you’re there to see. And residents in these places are fed up.

[THEME MUSIC]

[SOUND OF NEWSCASTS]

NEWSCASTER 1: More than 20,000 people have taken part in a protest against mass tourism.
NEWSCASTER 2: A water fight on the streets of Barcelona… Some locals spraying tourists with water guns.
NEWSCASTER 3: This demonstration, the latest in a wave of anti-tourism protests.
NEWSCASTER 4: There’s a real strength of feeling amongst the people who were walking the streets saying that enough is enough.

TM: As one of the few countries in the world that significantly limits its number of visitors, Bhutan has become an example to other countries of what a different kind of tourism could look like.

This is Peak Travel, I’m Tariro Mzezewa. Today, we’re going to explore Bhutan’s commitment to a so-called “high value, low impact” approach to tourism, one that’s envied around the world. And we’ll hear why many people say it’s working.

[MIDROLL BREAK]

AIR CREW OVER LOUDSPEAKER: Ladies and gentlemen welcome to Paro International Airport. The local time is…

SP: From the point that your plane starts to descend, like preparing to land, it’s a very different and very exciting experience because it’s a tiny airport, almost hidden between all these mountains.

TM: To reach Bhutan, you must first navigate tall Himalayan peaks. Sushmita said your arrival can be a bit harrowing.

SP: The pilot has to, like, maneuver the aircraft in a very skilled way to actually land.

[SOUND OF PLANE ENGINE WHIRRING]

[MUSIC]

TM: Right away, she noticed a different sense of urgency than she’s used to.

SP: You’re driving through Paro town, what struck me the most was that we were driving at a fairly slow pace. [Laughter] And you can also say that about the Bhutanese way of life. In Bhutan, it is so quiet. It’s really peaceful.
TM: The peace and quiet is intentional. Bhutan has never aspired to attract a high volume of visitors.
CARISSA NIMAH: You’re coming to a place that is so well preserved precisely because it has never been a mass tourism destination, and it doesn’t want to be a mass tourism destination.
TM: Carissa Nimah is the Chief Marketing Officer for Bhutan’s Department of Tourism. She grew up in Australia and moved to Bhutan two years ago after exploring the Himalayas on her motorcycle. She says that when Bhutan opened its doors to its first visitors half a century ago, it was already guarding against overtourism.
CN: You know, I think 50 years ago, Bhutan was definitely the only country in the world that was thinking like this and, you know, thinking about a problem this far ahead. Bhutan’s approach is very, you know, it wants to be very careful and very strategic about how it approaches tourism.
TM: Carissa thinks of this as foresight. But it seems to be, in part, because of the country’s government.

[MUSIC]

For most of its history, Bhutan — which has just 800,000 residents — was ruled by a king. Tourists were not allowed in until 1974. And even then, there weren’t very many.
CN: There were like 200 tourists that came in. Every year, it’s a gradual increase. The highest number was in 2019 when we had around 350,000 arrivals, and even that’s a very small number for a country for a whole year.
TM: The tourism industry was fully managed by the monarchy until 2008, when Bhutan created its first constitution and held elections. Though tour operators now have more control, the industry remains highly regulated by the government.
There are a few ways Bhutan has exerted this control. One is that, until recently, your entire trip was covered in an all-inclusive type arrangement that went through the central government. Things like your meals and hotel were all chosen for you.
SP: All of this was included in that package. And if you wanted to buy a souvenir or have a cup of coffee on the way somewhere, that, you had to pay extra, but everything else, like most of your expenses, were already decided.
TM: For a lot of tourists, this might seem restrictive. But there’s another measure that limits who can visit even more. And it’s still in effect today.
[MUSIC]
SP: The sustainable development fee has always been in place in Bhutan. So the SDF is a per-day fee that any tourist coming from outside Bhutan has to pay. The SDF is a way that visitors can support Bhutan’s development and sustainability projects.
TM: The daily fee is 100 U.S. dollars, paid by each person for each night they are in Bhutan. Carissa says the sustainable development fee is put to good use.
CN: The money that guests pay for the SDF goes into this big pot that the government uses for free health care, free education for all Bhutanese, the sustainability and conservation projects, but also things like infrastructure upgrades, so fixing the roads, making sure the temples are in good condition. It’s like a pay-it-forward concept.
TM: She says this reinvestment creates trust and allows locals to have a more favorable view of tourism.
CN: It actually benefits the entire community, because everybody benefits from good roads and free health care and free education.
TM: Many destinations are now considering following Bhutan’s example. Hawaii, Barcelona, Bali, and Amsterdam are among spots that have increased taxes and fees for visitors. Last year, Venice started charging 5 euros a day. Carissa thinks the price has to be high enough that it deters some people from visiting.
CN: And I think that magic number is still being worked out because if the fee is too low, like for instance, $5 a day, it actually has almost no impact on tourist arrivals.
TM: Sushmita said that for tourists, this management seems to be working.
DAN TORSIELLO: There’s an expectation or understanding that your experience here will be that, it will be a Bhutanese experience, not a Disney version of Bhutan or any other place.

SP: So this man was Dan Torsiello. He was an American tourist and I met him by chance like I was having lunch at this, like, small, very quaint restaurant in Paro. And he had just come from Nepal and we were just chatting about the difference. You know, both of these, both Nepal and Bhutan are Himalayan countries, But he said that they couldn’t be more different.

TM: Dan feels like Kathmandu has been Americanized.

DT: There’s a lot of KFCs, you know, but then when you come to Bhutan, there may be some Western influences, but it doesn’t seem to have altered the culture too much. It still seems to be kind of integrated nicely into Bhutanese culture.

TM: For this kind of experience, he feels the SDF is well worth it.

DT: I mean, you are a guest in this country, right? And it’s no different than going over to someone’s house. In American culture when you invite someone over, you bring over a bottle of wine, you bring something to the table.

[MUSIC]

SP: Bhutan does not want casual tourists who won’t interact, who won’t really engage with the country. They want tourists who are more mindful, who are conscious about the effect they have on the place that they visit.

TM: In 2019, Bhutan let in more tourists than ever before. Around that time, a story came out that upset many local people. It involved a tourist who wanted a photo on top of a stupa, a mound-shaped Buddhist monument where religious relics have been stored.

TSHEWANG NIDUP: The local workers were working on the renovation of the stupa. So they had a ladder leading to the stupa top. So one of the visitors actually climbed on top of the stupa to take a picture, and that became viral.

SP: Oh, that’s disrespectful.

TN: Yes. I mean, the poor visitor may not have been disrespectful, he thought this is a great opportunity, you know, to take a picture on top of the stupa. But, other people saw it as being disrespectful. So, I mean, so many incidents of that nature could happen, you know, if we allow mass tourism.

SP: So that was like a warning?

TN: Yeah.

TM: The people Sushmita spoke with said that couldn’t happen again. Instead, Bhutan would double down on its “high value, low impact” approach to tourism. Coming up after the break, how Bhutan is using these policies to redefine luxury for its visitors.
[MIDROLL BREAK]
[MUSIC]
Welcome back to Peak Travel. I’m Tariro Mzezewa.
Producer Sushmita Pathak found that when you visit Bhutan, in addition to monasteries and temples, there are countless beautiful landscapes. She described one moment on her drive from Paro to Thimphu.
[MUSIC]

[SOUND OF RUNNING WATER, BIRDS CHIRPING]

SP: We also passed this, another very beautiful point, which was like a confluence of two rivers, one coming from Paro and the other coming from Thimphu, and then they merged and became one. And there was this big bridge over it. It was a very beautiful moment because it had stopped raining and was just starting to clear up.
TM: Bhutan is known for its preservation of nature. Sushmita’s tour guide, Chimi Dem, took great pride that, in her country, it’s actually the law.
CHIMI DEM: In the Bhutanese Constitution it is clearly mentioned, 60% of the land should be preserved as green, which means the forest. So that is also the reason that we can be a carbon negative, because we produce, I think, more oxygen than the carbon dioxide that we produce here.
TM: Bhutan is the only country in the world that is carbon negative. To Chimi, this is possible because of the daily sustainable development fee.
CD: We collect this small amount not to become rich overnight, but there are certain things that we need to look after. There are certain things we need to repair. There are certain things we need to preserve, especially to preserve the environment, nature.
KARMA TSHERING: We have to start focusing on how to now add value.
TM: Sustainable tourism expert Karma Tshering says that when you preserve something, it can become one of your greatest assets.
KT: In Bhutan, we have close to 700 bird species, OK? We are just a small dot. And to put it into comparative perspective, the whole of North America has just close to 800 bird species. For a lot of bird watchers, ornithologists, like, Bhutan is a haven for birdwatching.
TM: There are many ways a place can be harmed by large numbers of tourists. Carissa pointed to something that can be tough to measure.
CN: Your authenticity suffers a lot from overtourism, and these are things that once you, once they’re gone, it’s very hard to get them back.
[MUSIC]
TM: At a time when other countries are struggling to manage overtourism, Bhutan is leaning into what it’s always done well: providing guests with a special experience, while protecting its citizens and land.
CB RAMKUMAR: You’re traveling to experience a culture, that is the new form of luxury. Earlier luxury meant, you know, Persian carpets, Italian marble, champagne and caviar. Today, luxury is, “Give me an experience I cannot get where I live.” That is luxury.
TM: CB Ramkumar is the vice chair of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
CR: Bhutan was proof of concept. It can be replicated across any scale, any geography, anywhere in the world.
TM: Even though CB is confident, it’s hard to imagine Bhutan’s style of regulation working in bigger places. Still, Sushmita says there are parts of the experience you can take with you when you leave.

Back at the Big Buddha, she was enjoying one such opportunity.

[SOUND OF WIND BLOWING, SOFT RAIN, THUNDER RUMBLING]

SP: There was like a little cool breeze flowing. There was a point where I could see, like, mountains in the distance, and I could see the rain approaching. It was very dramatic. And then it started gusts of wind, I think a little bit of thunder.

TM: Some of the tourists she spoke with there couldn’t care less about paying a premium.

SARANSH VAID: In terms of taking a fee, I think it’s irrelevant to me. If, like, you know when I go to, let’s say I’m invited to a house party, their house, their rules. So it’s that simple for me.

TM: And the absence of busy crowds allowed Sushmita to have a moment of reflection at this sacred spot.

SP: There was this, like, giant prayer wheel on one corner of the bridge, on one side of the bridge, and there was this, like, man rotating the prayer wheel, and you could hear this like small bell attached to it.

[SOUND OF BELLS CHIMING]

SP: There’s a mantra written, and so it has, it has a religious significance. And so you just, you know, walk and you touch those prayer wheels and rotate them. And you also say that mantra in your mind, and that mantra is “Om mani padme hum.”

[SOUND OF PEOPLE SINGING THE OM MANI PADME HUM MANTRA]

TM: In English, it means, “Praise to the jewel in the lotus.” The mantra is believed to bring peace, compassion, and enlightenment.

SP: And it’s very, very soothing, and so when you rotate the prayer wheels, it’s like you’re saying that mantra and you’re accumulating merit. So you’re gathering blessings when you do that.

TM: In recent years, as destinations all over the world considered charging tourists fees to visit, I thought of Bhutan. As a travel journalist, I’d often heard from sustainable tourism experts that Bhutan was the near-perfect example of how to manage overtourism.

[MUSIC]

The thinking was: “If that small nation could limit its number of tourists with a fee that helped residents and protected the environment, why couldn’t other countries?”

I liked the idea, but I was skeptical. Bhutan is small, and it’s basically run by a king who can pretty much impose whatever laws he pleases, regardless of whether citizens like them or not. And, to be honest, the idea of charging people extra to visit certain places felt a bit elitist.

But Sushmita’s trip shifted some of my thinking. I still don’t feel big countries with more complicated bureaucracies can replicate Bhutan’s model, but smaller regions can. I also now believe a fee can be a good deterrent in a world where some people can afford to get on a plane and go wherever they want.

And as travelers, maybe we aren’t entitled to see every place we’re curious about. Maybe a fee can force us to pause and consider why we even want to go, and if we need to go at that very moment — or at all.

Traveling to a place like Bhutan is a pricey investment, but the experience is worthwhile. We should think of all destinations like this: as a privilege.

Next time, on Peak Travel…

[SOUND OF WITCH CACKLING, GLASS BREAKING]

The small town of Salem, Massachusetts was the site of the Witch Trials of 1692. But now, it’s known for something else.

[MUSIC]

JOHN ANDREWS: Standing where we’re standing, there is a clown playing saxophone. There’s really well-done Hocus Pocus cosplayers. There’s a zombie bride.

TM: Becoming overrun with more than a million tourists every year at Halloween.

RACHEL CHRIST-DOANE: Salem just kind of gets busy in a way that cannot be described, right? You almost have to see it to get it.

TM: It’s fun for visitors. But is it worth it for the people who live there?

SUSIE MOULTON: Just think, would you like to go out of your backyard and be greeted by 200,000 people, new people, every Friday, Saturday, Sunday?

TM: That’s next time, on Peak Travel.

[THEME MUSIC]

This is Peak Travel. I’m your host, Tariro Mzezewa.

Our executive producer is Tom Grahsler.

Our senior producer is Michael Olcott. Our producer is Michaela Winberg, and our associate producer is Bibiana Correa. We had production help on this episode from Sushmita Pathak.

Our editor is Meg Driscoll. Original music by Catherine Anderson. Mixing and sound design by Emma Munger. Engineering by Al Banks, Charlie Kaier, and Diana Martinez. Our tile art was created by Nick Rogacki.

Peak Travel is a production of WHYY, distributed by PRX, and part of the NPR podcast network. Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, the iHeart Radio app — or wherever you get your podcasts.