Gross National Happiness

Bhutan, Land of the Thunder Dragon

Bhutan, this tiny country located in the Himalaya mountains, has just recently opened its doors to tourism. As of 1974 Bhutan began to allow tourists to enter. It wasn’t until more recently when tourism really began to boom here, and tourism has now become a leading source of revenue for this country.

The Daily Tariff

Bhutan believes in offering high-quality tourism. A hefty $250 daily tariff is charged per person to visit this country. It sounds expensive, and it is on the high side, but it includes accommodations in three star hotels, a tour guide, transportation, all meals, and most activities.

What this fee does not include are flights and other transportation into or out of Bhutan, and anything extra, such as snacks, alcoholic beverages, and certain activities.

You are able to travel in small groups and make your own itinerary.

You are not forced onto gigantic tour buses for sightseeing with twenty-five other people.

So, if you multiply the $250 tariff by four (for our family), $1000 is quite an expensive fee. Fortunately for us, children under the age of 12 are half price. Our daily fee of $750 is crushing our daily budget expenditure!!!

But I had read that Bhutan is amazing, we were already so close to it, just having been in Nepal, so we scheduled a week in Bhutan, hoping it would live up to our expectations. Our week has just ended and I can tell you that Bhutan is incredible. This has been one of the best weeks of our trip so far…and that is saying a lot!

Bridge to Bhutan

The tour company we used is Bridge to Bhutan (click here to visit their website). We found them through Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor. Lotay and Fin, the founders of Bridge to Bhutan, helped us plan our itinerary and pick out great hotels during our stay in Bhutan. We felt like they really had our best interests in mind and did everything they could to make our week as enjoyable as possible.

I am hoping we can one day return to Bhutan, and when we do we will not hesitate to use Bridge to Bhutan again. Our experience was amazing.

Bhutan rejoices over birth of crown prince

The King and Queen of Bhutan have released the first official picture of their baby son who was born last Friday.

In an image posted to Facebook, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 35, and Queen Jetsun Pema, 25, can be seen gazing adoringly at the new arrival who is swaddled in a vibrant yellow blanket as they sit in the grounds of Lingkana Palace in the Bhtanese capital Thimphu.

But it was the King’s father, who is known as His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo, who was given the honour of holding the new baby as he was officially introduced to the world.

b2b5 — King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 35, (left) and Queen Jetsun Pema, 25, of Bhutan gaze adoringly at their newborn son in the grounds of Lingkana Palace in the Bhutanese capital Thimphu. The baby’s grandfather, the former King of Bhutan (centre) was given the honour of holding the baby whose name has not yet been revealed

The former King of Bhutan cradled the baby – whose name has not yet been announced – in the crook of his right arm, while placing an affectionate hand around his daughter-in-law’s shoulder. Continue reading Bhutan rejoices over birth of crown prince

U.N. Happiness Conference in NYC April 02, 2012: Agenda

REALISING THE WORLD WE ALL WANT: LAUNCH EVENT

HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON WELLBEING AND HAPPINESS: DEFINING A NEW ECONOMIC PARADIGM

Hosted by the Royal Government of Bhutan, 2nd April 2012, Conference Room 1 (North Lawn Building), United Nations Headquarters, New York City

DRAFT AGENDA

Saturday, 31st March & Sunday, 1st April 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. – Registration at the Permanent Mission of Bhutan, 343 East 43rd Street, New York

Monday, 2nd April 8 – 8.40 a.m. – Security Check at the UN Visitor’s Gate (First Avenue, 45 – 46 Street) and

Registration 8 – 8.40 a.m. – Registration at Conference Room 1 for delegates of Member States

8.50 a.m. – All participants to be seated in Conference Room 1

9 –10.00 a.m. – Inaugural Session Chair: H.E. Helen Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme and the Former Prime Minister of New Zealand

9.00 – 9.03 a.m. – Welcome address by H.E. Helen Clark 9.03 – 9.09 a.m. – Address by H.E. Mr. Jigmi Y. Thinley, Prime Minister of Bhutan (On the mission and purpose of the meeting) 9.09 – 9.12 a.m. – Inaugural address by H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations 9.12 – 9.15 a.m. – Address by H.E. Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President of the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly 9.15 – 9.18 a.m. – Address by H.E. Mr. Miloš Koterec, President of the Economic and Social Council 9.18 – 9.28 a.m. – Keynote address by H.E. Ms. Laura Chinchilla, Honourable President of the Republic of Costa Rica (The Republic of Costa Rica is universally recognised for its outstanding achievements in environmental conservation and its exemplary sustainable development record) …For more refer www.2apr.gov.bt

Bhutan to host the U.N. Happiness Conference April 2-5, 2012 in NYC

The U.N. Happiness Project By TIMOTHY W. RYBACK* (NY Times)

March 28, 2012 : Next Monday, the United Nations will implement Resolution 65/309, adopted unanimously by the General Assembly in July 2011, placing “happiness” on the global agenda. “Conscious that the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal” and “recognizing that the gross domestic product […] does not adequately reflect the happiness and well-being of people,” Resolution 65/309 empowers the Kingdom of Bhutan to convene a high-level meeting on happiness as part of next week’s 66th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. An impressive array of luminaries will be speaking for this remote Himalayan kingdom. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales will open the meeting via a prerecorded video missive. The Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz will speak on “happiness indicators,” as will the economist Jeffrey Sachs. The Bhutanese prime minister will represent King Jigme Khesar Namgyel, the reigning Dragon King of the Bhutanese House of Wangchuck. (The kingdom became a constitutional monarchy in 2007.) For the 32-year-old Dragon King — Bhutan means “land of dragons” in the local Dzongkha language — U.N. Resolution 65/309 represents a global public relations triumph and the realization of a hereditary ambition, initiated by his grandfather 40 years ago, to establish Gross National Happiness (G.N.H.) as an alternate model to Gross National Product (G.N.P.) as a measure of national progress. Continue reading Bhutan to host the U.N. Happiness Conference April 2-5, 2012 in NYC

Featured Web/Blog: Introduction to Bhutan – Unbelievable Photographs!

Introduction to Bhutan

Bhutan. This little-known Himalayan kingdom, nestled between the giants of India and China, is the world’s last remaining Shangri-La. This is an extraordinary country, unlike any on Earth, where traffic lights do not exist, buying cigarettes is illegal, the wrestling channel and MTV are banned, as well as Western-style billboards and plastic bags, and Gross National Happiness has been deemed more important than Gross National Product. While neighboring countries have catapulted themselves into the modern world and embraced tourism with such ferocity that their cultures have been both compromised and neglected, Bhutan has recognized that the only way to move forward and ensure both its survival and sovereignty is to protect the unique culture and environment that makes the country so special.

Up until 1960, Bhutan had been visited by only a handful of early British explorers and during the decade that followed the few foreigners permitted into the country were guests of the royal family. It was not until the coronation of the fourth king in 1974 that a hotel was built and the first group of paying tourists arrived, organized and led by Lars Eric Lindbald (founder of Linbald Travel) who encouraged the government to limit tourism and to charge high fees. This set the standard by which tourism would evolve in Bhutan and small groups began to enter the country, permitted only to visit the dzongs and goempas in Paro and Thimpu. Continue reading Featured Web/Blog: Introduction to Bhutan – Unbelievable Photographs!

UNWTO applauds Gross National Happiness country

Taleb Rifai applauds Bhutan’s sustainability and quality tourism model

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, has expressed his support for the long-term tourism policy of Bhutan, with its focus on sustainability and quality, on an official visit to the country where he met with acting Prime Minister, Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba

The Royal Government of Bhutan considers tourism “a window of opportunity for the future of Bhutan” said Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba, during his meeting with Mr. Rifai. Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba pointed to tourism’s contribution to the economic security and Gross National Happiness – Bhutan’s measure of wellbeing – of the Bhutanese people. Continue reading UNWTO applauds Gross National Happiness country

Bhutan’s endangered temple art treasures

Reclusive kingdom located between India and China has asked for advice on preserving masterworks from the 16th-19th centuries
Dalya Alberge
Courtesy: The Observer (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/)
bhutan
A 17th-century paintings of the Lama Lhakhang in Trongsa dzong.

British art experts have been given unique access to the hidden heritage of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, including spectacular 16th- to 19th- century wall paintings from its 2,000 temples and monasteries.

Specialists from the Courtauld Institute have been amazed by the exquisite quality and technical sophistication of paintings that were largely unknown and unrecorded in the west. Professor David Park, from the Courtauld, said: “The wall paintings are absolutely stunning. Some of the earlier examples, especially, are extraordinary.” Continue reading Bhutan’s endangered temple art treasures

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

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)