Destinations knownIn Bhutan, tourists were once welcomed – now they are feared and face hostility

The Kingdom of Bhutan is an exception to Asia’s tourism rule. Whereas countries such as Japan and Thailand set their sights on attracting travellers en masse, the tiny Himalayan nation embraces a “high value, low impact” approach “founded on the principle of sustainability, meaning that tourism must be environmentally and ecologically friendly, socially and culturally acceptable and economically viable”, or so states the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB).

It achieves this by charging foreigners US$250 per day during peak months and US$200 for off-season jaunts – although “regional” arrivals from India, Bangladesh and the Maldives aren’t subject to the same statutes – a measure that has kept the numbers down and the Bhutanese happy. In 2018, the kingdom received just 274,097 visitors – a figure that was kept low also by a lack of flight capacity and hotel rooms – and unlike at Asia’s overburdened hotspots, tourists find that they are genuinely welcomed. At least, until now.

On March 6, Bhutan recorded its first case of coronavirus, when an American traveller tested positive for Covid-19, precipitating a two-week closure of the country’s borders and causing “the tourist on the street, whether American, European or Asian”, to be “seen with some apprehension”, according to the national newspaper, Kuensel.

“Tourists used to be welcomed and greeted just for the sake of striking up a conversation,” Kuensel reported. “Students walking to school wait in line and wave or bow as tourists in flashy cars or clean coaster buses pass by.”

However, amid growing global anxiety over the implications of the pandemic, some of the travellers already in Bhutan, as well as guides who escort them around the country, have been met with hostility, especially in rural areas.