When Can Travellers Visit Bhutan Again?
After 2+ years of border closures, due the COVID-19 pandemic, beautiful Bhutan re-opens for tourism from Friday 23 September 2022.
Bhutan will re-emerge as a premier tourism destination and permit vaccinated travellers to enter both quarantine and PCR test free.
Bhutan & Beyond are your Bhutan & south Asia travel experts. Watch out for our new private & small group tour products for this exciting region.
Check out the latest video from James of Bhutan & Beyond.
Bhutan's 'Sustainability Development Fee' Explained.
Bhutan is one of the worlds very few ‘carbon-negative’ nations and one of earths 10 ‘Bio-diversity hot-spots’!
In order to protect this truly awesome, but delicate, natural environment Bhutan has adopted a plan to increase the ‘Sustainability Development Fee (SDF)’ levied on all tourist visitors. This fee will go towards implementing a sustainable future for Bhutan’s environment, its flora & fauna, and its peoples.
The SDF has been increased to US$200 per person per night spent in Bhutan. This fee is in addition to travel costs involved in a Bhutan visit such as touring, accommodation, meals, trekking and entrance fees to important sites and buildings.
A reduction in tourist numbers, due to this higher SDF, is envisaged as part of this process.
How to Save Money on your Bhutan Trip
With the increased ‘Sustainable Development Fee’ pushing up the cost of a Bhutan visit, here are some ways to control your travel budget:
- Consider a shorter Bhutan visit such as our new ‘Bhutan at a Glimpse’ 5 night private tour.
- Choosing our new ‘Half Board’ tour option fr your Bhutan visit. This further reduces your tour cost but means you pay for your own lunches daily and pay direct for any special sites or buildings/dzongs you wish to enter. You will save money.
- Choose to stay some nights in a Bhutan homestay/farmstay option in rural areas where you can share experiences with a local family.
- Consider a combination tour of Bhutan, Nepal and/or India. Both Nepal and India offer lower cost experiences than Bhutan will in future. The India private tour in Sikkim, ‘Himalayan Splendour’, is very similar to travelling in Bhutan. A Buddhist, Himalayan experience at lower cost.
- Our new ‘Nepal Wellness Experience’ private tour features 5 days of all-things Ayurvedic at the delightfully secluded 4-star Begnas Lake Resort.
Article by James Irving – Bhutan Travel Expert
 | James has worked in the travel industry for over 40 years & has been involved in the leisure, corporate, group, sport, incentive & wholesale travel genres. James loves rugby union, and keenly supports the Queensland Reds and the Australian Wallabies.
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