bhutan – Page 3 – BIIB Blog

Lonely Planet’s travel picks for 2011

Overlooking houses and fields in the mountains of Western Bhutan. Photo by Johnny Haglund

30 Dec. 2010: Wondering what the new year will bring? Here’s the word on the ground from our Asia-Pacific travel editor, Shawn.

Budget airlines are here to stay. Frustration with budget airlines hit a new high (or low) in 2010 – but that’s not stopping people from travelling with them. More routes AND airlines are opening up in 2011: Malaysia Airlines is expanding its budget Firefly routes and Thai Airways is planning on launching its budget Thai Tiger carrier.

Tired of ‘independent’ travel? What about a tour…an awesome one? It’s getting harder and harder to get off the beaten path. In a funny twist, 2011 will be the year that the tours beat out the independent traveller to far-flung destinations. Looking for a destination that gives you some bragging rights? Try North Korea – possible to visit as part of an organised group. It’s the only way to get a glimpse behind one of the world’s most fascinatingly closed countries. Communism doesn’t appeal? Check out Bhutan. It’s a Himalayan Shangri-la, where snow-capped mountains and primeval forest are home to monasteries, dzongs and a uniquely Buddhist culture. Tourism to Bhutan is set to double by 2012 as word is getting out, so get in as soon as you can. Continue reading Lonely Planet’s travel picks for 2011

Measuring what counts. The insignificance of GDP & the birth of GNH

31st Dec. 2010: In the early 1970s, the tiny nation of Bhutan stopped focusing on gross domestic product, or GDP. This wasn’t because the country was trying to hide its economic progress. It was because King Jigme Singye Wangchuck thought GDP measured the wrong things.

“Why are we so obsessed and focused with gross domestic product?” he asked a journalist inquiring about the country’s economy. “Why don’t we care more about gross national happiness?”

And so began the birth of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness index, or GNH. Continue reading Measuring what counts. The insignificance of GDP & the birth of GNH

Role of tourism for sustainable development & poverty eradication

Madrid, Spain, 21 December 2010: Nations General Assembly acknowledges role of tourism for sustainable development and poverty eradication. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted by consensus at its 65th session three separate resolutions emphasizing the role on tourism in sustainable development. The three resolutions, on the implementation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, on the promotion of ecotourism and on the importance of sustainable tourism for Small Island Developing States stress the significance of the sector to the development agenda in terms of sustainability, employment and poverty elimination. The resolutions further welcomed the efforts and work of UNWTO in promoting sustainable tourism for poverty eradication. Continue reading

Back to Bhutan after 43 years

LIFEbhutan1

Peter Steele at his home in Hillcrest. Steele and his family returned to the Kingdom of Bhutan this year to recreate a journey they made 43 years ago.

…….The last time Judith Steele was in Bhutan, a raven stole her soother.

Forty-three years later, the Yukon day-home operator returned to the country to have tea with Princess Ashi-Tashi.

The princess is 86 years old now, but remembers Judith’s father Peter Steele bringing his young family to her country to study goitre in 1967.

At the time, Peter was a doctor in London, and his boss treated the third king of Bhutan, who had a heart condition.

To repay him, the king invited both men to his sequestered country. Continue reading Back to Bhutan after 43 years

Happy Bhutan proposes a new global goal (MDG #9)

Sep 20, 2010 UNITED NATIONS — The introvert Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan on Monday urged the world to adopt a new Millennium Development Goal — happiness — if it really wants to end the scourge of poverty, hunger and disease.

Bhutan’s Prime Minister, Jigmi Thinley, condemned the “dangerous and stupid” pursuit of wealth, even by some of his big and brash neighbours India and China, in a speech to the UN summit on reaching the MDGs.

The land of the Gross National Happiness index again sought to export its optimistic ideology, which the prime minister said encompassed all of the eight major goals set by the United Nations in 2000. Continue reading Happy Bhutan proposes a new global goal (MDG #9)

McKinsey- Of High Fees & Novice Consultants? & learning from Bhutan

Courtesy: Blog of the Leader of the Opposition http://www.tsheringtobgay.com

March 04, 2010: Chhophyel, commenting on my previous post: “OL, I am glad that McKinsey’s proposal to liberalize tourist tariff is finally out the window.”

McKinsey and Company is charging the government 9.1 million dollars in consulting fees. Add to that travel, living, per diem and other expenses, and the final tab, by some estimates, could exceed 14 million dollars! That’s a lot of money.

So it’s amazing that we must feel a sense of relief every time their proposals get shot down. Their first proposal to go was about increasing annual tourist arrivals to 250,000. Then it was tourist tariff liberalization. Now their proposal to mandate all hotels catering to tourists to upgrade to at least a 3 Star category is already coming under attack. Continue reading McKinsey- Of High Fees & Novice Consultants? & learning from Bhutan

Why ‘Gross National Happiness’ (GNH)? Forget GDP

Bhutan Prime Minister Explains Metric of ‘Gross National Happiness’ : Forget gross national product. The prime minister of Bhutan says a nation should measure itself by its gross national happiness.

Jigmi Y. Thinley spoke about his country’s unusual metric to about 450 people in Low Rotunda during Columbia’s World Leaders Forum on Sept. 15. His was the first in the 2010-2011 series of forums and talks by world leaders at Columbia, a year-round event series that includes heads of state and global thought leaders from a variety of countries and fields.

Jigmi Y. Thinley, prime minister of Bhutan, spoke about gross national happiness at Columbia’s World Leaders Forum.

Image credit: Eileen Barroso/Columbia University

Bhutan, a Buddhist kingdom of about 700,000 nestled in the Himalayas between China and India, has adopted an unusual and complex system of measuring gross national happiness as an alternative to GNP, the common economic indicator that measures the sum of all goods and services produced by a nation.

Thinley said GNH is based on the belief that the purpose of development and the role of the state is to create a place where people can pursue what they aspire to most in life: happiness.

“It is a holistic development paradigm to make human society resilient,” said Thinley. “We are the only country so far that promotes happiness through deliberate public policy and action.” Continue reading Why ‘Gross National Happiness’ (GNH)? Forget GDP

Low volume is now low impact-But value stays high

Bhutan’s much lauded tourism policy, is not anymore “high value, low volume.” It’s now “high value, low impact.”

The “low impact” on culture and environment as the tourism council of Bhutan (TCB) calls,” has come at a time when the government has committed to increase the “volume” of tourists visiting Bhutan. In the next two years, it aims to bring in 100,000 tourists, which is about one-sixth of the country’s population.

For more than three decades, the policy of “low volume” has regulated tourist arrivals in the country. With that, it minimised the “impact” and brought in a “manageable” number that its limited infrastructure could support. Bhutan otherwise has no restriction on the number of tourists visiting. Continue reading Low volume is now low impact-But value stays high

Bhutan’s well-wisher & a guest of Bridge To Bhutan launches a book on Gross National Happiness (GNH)

“The Magic Of Gross National Happiness” book launch

At the launch: Unveiling the magic of GNH

Book Launch 11 September, 2010 – An American author who journeyed through Bhutan to explore what the mystical kingdom bore, was intrigued to find “The magic of gross national happiness” that soon translated into book.

This was the fifth book Doris Lee McCoy authored, which was launched at the Tarayana foundation conference hall yesterday.

Doris said people across the world were beginning to realise the importance of happiness.

“We have 26 happiness clubs in America,” she said.

Bhutan, she said, was the eighth happiest nation in the world, while America stood 23rd, Germany 35th, and England 41st. Continue reading Bhutan’s well-wisher & a guest of Bridge To Bhutan launches a book on Gross National Happiness (GNH)

Nomadic community gears up for guests/tourists

Around 46 locals are being trained as cooks and guides for tourists

Merak-Sakteng : Around 46 Merak and Sakteng locals will be trained to guide tourists and cook, as the nomadic community in north eastern Trashighang opens officially to tourists next month.

A team of around eight experienced guides and trekking cooks is conducting the training for 15 days each in Merak and Sakten for 10 local guides and 36 cooks, said a tourism council of Bhutan (TCB) official. The training starts today.

Of the 10 would be local guides, eight are class XII dropouts, and the rest are classes IX and X dropouts. “The cooks will be trained in preparing both continental and local food that blend with the tastes of tourists,” a TCB official said. Continue reading Nomadic community gears up for guests/tourists