Similarly, the Chairman of Hotel and Restaurants Association of Bhutan (HRAB), Jigme Tshering said that 2024 is looking promising, and looking forward to higher occupancies and higher value bookings this year compared with last year.
“We are encouraging our members to be more proactive with their marketing efforts, to attend travel fairs, and to use online marketing,” he said.
January arrivals in Bhutan are also looking strong, with 4,414 guests arriving in Bhutan in January, almost double the number of guests who arrived in January 2023 (2,670 arrivals).
The top markets arriving in January 2024 were from India, the US, China, the UK, Brazil, Australia and Germany.
Despite the winter season, the Director General said that they have witnessed good arrivals from several major source markets this January, nearly matching the pre-pandemic numbers.
He said that conversations with numerous tourists revealed their surprise at how good Bhutan is as a winter destination, characterized by mostly sunny days and chilly evenings.
He urged tourism service providers to creatively promote Bhutan as a winter destination alongside existing itineraries and travel packages.
Dechen Dolkar
Kuensel
Asia News Network
