Gross National Happiness Archives - Page 2 of 2

11Jan2016

PRINCE WILLIAM AND KATE TO VISIT BHUTAN IN SPRING

January 11, 2016

Bhutan, Bhutan's Capital Thimphu, British University, Constitutional Monarchy, Gross Domestic Product, Gross National Happiness, India, King and Queen of Bhutan, Nepal, Royal Family of UK, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, UK Government Articles on Bhutan, News on Bhutan

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will make an official visit to Bhutan this spring, Kensington Palace has announced.

It will be the royal couple’s first visit to the Himalayan kingdom.

While visiting the country, William and Catherine will meet Bhutan’s king and queen, who married in 2011.

The trip, at the request of the UK government, will coincide with their previously announced official tour of India.

It was also announced that Prince Harry will visit Nepal this spring, the BBC’s royal correspondent Peter Hunt said.

Bhutan, located between India and China, has a population of about 750,000 people.

Tourists were first allowed into the country in the 1970s, while it is known for its “Gross National Happiness” index – an alternative to GDP – which measures personal happiness as opposed to economic growth.

The capital Thimphu does not have traffic lights and television was only introduced in the late 1990s.

In March 2008, Bhutan became a constitutional monarchy and the king relinquished his absolute powers.

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk – who became king in 2006 – and Queen Jetsun Pema married in a lavish ceremony in 2011 at a monastic fortress in the Himalayan nation.

They are expecting their first child early this year.

The Oxford-educated king and his wife, who also studied at a British university, visited London a few weeks after their wedding and met the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall at their London home, Clarence House.

Previous royal visits to Bhutan include a visit by the Duke of York in 2010, and a visit by the Prince of Wales in 1998.

Although Prince Harry’s Nepal trip will be his first visit to the country, the prince said he had long wanted to visit the nation due to his admiration and respect for the Gurkha troops he served with in Afghanistan.

While the trip was also arranged at the request of the government, Prince Harry said he was keen to see progress with the country’s rebuilding effort following the earthquake in April last year.

The last visit by a member of the Royal Family to Nepal was by the Duke of Edinburgh and the Princess Royal in 2000.

Source: BBC World News

4Nov2015

GNH & BUDDHISM MAIN ATTRACTION FOR INTERNATIONAL TOURIST

November 4, 2015

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Bhutan-Thailand Friendship, Buddhism, Gross National Happiness, International Tourist, Minimum Daily tariff, Royal Family of Bhutan, Thai Tourist, The Annual tourism monitor, Tourist attractions in Bhutan Articles on Bhutan, News on Bhutan

Gross revenue from tourism increase by USD 9.71M

Apart from the unique culture, Buddhism and Gross National Happiness, the Royal Family was also the main attraction for international tourists who visited Bhutan last year, the 2014 tourism monitor states.

With a growth of about 15 percent, Bhutan recorded 133,480 international and regional tourists last year. The annual tourism monitor states that a majority of the tourists were female.

As is the trend, the 2014 data indicate that its mostly the elderly international visitors, highly educated, experienced and well settled who chose Bhutan as a holiday destination. A majority of the tourists who visited Bhutan last year was aged 61 years and above.

The monitor states that more than half of the international tourists were from Asia and the Pacific Region. About one-fourth was from Europe and the rest from North America and South America followed by the Middle East.

Nationality wise, Thai tourists accounted for one-fifth of the total tourists last year, which tourism officials attributed to the Bhutan-Thailand friendship offer where Thai tourists were exempted from the mandatory minimum daily tariff.

An exit study of the tourists where a sample size of 12,000 visitors was randomly interviewed indicated that the average stay was six nights for international tourists. However, about 19 percent of the tourists stayed for more than eight nights and about two percent for more than 15 nights in 2014.

“The discount offered for those staying more than 8 and 15 nights designed to encourage longer stays doesn’t seem to be popular among international visitors,” the monitor states.

The monitor states that a majority of the international tourists were aware of the minimum daily tariff of USD 250 and 200 for the peak and lean seasons. However, the rest were not aware of the daily package rate.

At about 35 percent, the monitor states that proportion of respondents who didn’t have knowledge about the daily package rate structure is quite high given the increasing number of tourists visiting Bhutan every year.

Bhutan continues to be a cultural destination with a majority of the tourists still attracted to Bhutan by cultural and nature-based activities, adventure sports and other attractions like textiles, community-based activities, wellness and spa, and retreat.

The western dzongkhags of Paro, Thimphu, and Punakha, as usual, continued to receive the highest number of tourists and the bed nights as well. Lhuentse, Pemagatshel, Dagana and Tsirang recorded the least number of bed nights in 2014.

Gross earnings from the international tourism increased to USD 73.2 million or about Nu 4.4B in 2014 from USD 63.49 million in 2013.

“However, this does not account for receipts from categories like airline receipts and out of pocket expenses,” the monitor states. It also states that more than 98 percent of international tourists visited Bhutan for the first time.

Source: Kuensel (Kinga Dema)

1Oct2015

Bhutan: A trip to the happiest place on earth

October 1, 2015

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Bhutan Airline, Bhutan daily tariff, Bhutan's high value low impect, Bhutanese rich culture, Buddhist symbol of purity, Druk Air, Druk Yuel, Getting to Bhutan, Gross National Happiness, Kingdome of Bhutan, Land of Thunder dragon, Le Meridien, Luxury hotels in Bhutan, Starwoods in Bhutan, The last Shangrila, Trekking through Himalayas in Bhutan Articles on Bhutan, News on Bhutan

Trekking through the Himalayas in Bhutan.

I’m in the prayer hall of Tango Buddhist monastery high on a mountainside in Bhutan, watching as a woman performs chag, ritual prostrations before the Buddha.

Three times she clasps her hands in the prayer position, brings them to the crown of her head, to her throat and then to her heart before folding to a kneeling posture and touching her forehead to the floor.

Chag is one of seven ritual practices known as yoen lak duen pa; the woman is a Westerner. Over the next week it’s a theme repeated with many small variations, foreign visitors spinning prayer wheels, lighting butter lamps, wearing the white khata, Buddhist symbol of purity.

Monks look out of a temple in Tango monastery on the outskirts of Thimphu. Photo: Reuters

“Why do people come to Bhutan?” a guest at dinner in my hotel asks me that night. He’s Bhutanese, a lawyer, and it’s a rhetorical question.

“It has a wonderful topography of mountains and forests and rivers, clean air, small population, but then so does Colorado, so does New Zealand and Switzerland. So why do people come from so far when they could so easily and so much less expensively find all these things closer to home?

Because they come to Bhutan for the culture. Because they sense in Bhutan something that has been lost from their own existence,” he says. “They want to change their lives.”

Mount Jumolhari at 7300 metres, seen through prayer flags from Chele La Pass. Photo: Danita Delimont

The last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom, Bhutan is a world apart, a misty, mystic, sequestered realm of chanting monks, prayer flags and monasteries perched high on sub-Himalayan ridgetops. Known as Druk-yul, “Land of the Thunder Dragon”, Bhutan moves to its own rhythm.

This was the last country to get television, and still, so they say, the last without a traffic light. The sale and distribution of cigarettes and other tobacco products is illegal. The gho, the knee-length robe that is the Bhutanese national costume, is required for men working for the government, schools or the tourism industry.

Most famous is Bhutan’s concept of Gross National Happiness, its unique contribution to the way nations measure their success. Rather than the crude yardstick of Gross Domestic Product, Bhutan gauges its position in the world by the four yardsticks of culture, environment, good governance and economic development. It’s another kind of richness, and viewed through the prism of GNH, Bhutan scores well.

Elderly men in traditional Bhutanese dress are seen at a Buddhist festival in Thimphu. Photo: Reuters

Bhutan offers a masterclass in another way to live, but it’s not for everyone. Bhutan pursues a policy of high-value, low-impact tourism “aimed at attracting tourists who will respect the unique culture and values of the Bhutanese people”, according to the government’s website.

Apart from visitors from India, Bangladesh and the Maldives, every visitor pays an admission fee of US$250 (NZ$380), a figure that deters backpackers and budget travellers. Excluding visitors from the subcontinent, Bhutan laid out the welcome mat to a little more than 50,000 international arrivals in 2013. It’s exclusive, and the high admission price adds to its mystique. It also fosters a clubby elitism among its visitors.

Although it has all the right credentials to become the adventure capital of Asia, apart from white-water rafting on the Pho Chu River and a couple of hardcore treks, the lack of specialist operators and the high cost rules this out as a premium adventure destination. Once you’ve visited a couple of monasteries, admired the sunrise over the Himalayas, shopped for prayer wheels or singing bowls and drunk your fill of butter tea, there’s not an awful lot to do.

A statue of Lord Buddha is pictured at Kuensel Phodrang in Thimphu. Photo: Reuters

Walking, however, is essential, and it’s humbling as well as challenging. Visitors must get used to panting. Paro, Bhutan’s international airport, sits in a valley at an altitude of 2200 metres. Almost exactly the same altitude as Mount Kosciuszko, and, from Paro, just about everything is up.

Walking here takes you into thigh-burning territory, along forest paths where the trees are webbed with wild clematis or old man’s beard, known here as Dakini hair after the female sky dancers who assist Buddhists along the path to enlightenment. The trail will usually deliver you to a monastery, which are pitched high on the mountainsides for reasons of security as well as the essential quality of isolation.

The ParoTaktsang Palphug Buddhist monastery, also known as the Tiger’s Nest. Photo: Reuters

I’m on a high trail climbing towards the pass at Chele La when there’s an almighty howling. One of the dogs that has been accompanying us has invaded the territory of another. “Anger,” says Kuenzang Tobgay, my guide. “One of the three poisons that stands in the way of enlightenment.”

Although my prostrations might be less than perfect, if I can cling to that thought in traffic, in the supermarket queue or next time I’m on hold on the phone listening to inane music, Bhutan will have changed my life for the better.

A boy and an elderly man are seen at a prayer wheel at the National Memorial Chorten in Thimpu. Photo: Reuters

MORE INFORMATION tourism.gov.bt

GETTING THERE Druk Air has daily flights from Bangkok and twice weekly flights from Singapore to Paro, the only international airport. See drukasia.com/Bhutan

New Zealand passport holders require a visa and must book their holiday through a Bhutanese tour operator or one of their international partners.

STAYING THERE Le Meridien is a new addition to Bhutan, the first Western-style hotel from one of the major hotel groups. Close to the heart of Thimphu, the capital, it offers a high level of comfort, style and amenities.

See starwoodhotels.com

The daily package price that all visitors are required to pay US$250 covers the cost of three-star hotel accommodation, meals, tours, guide services and transport. Visitors who choose to stay in more comfortable accommodation pay more.

Jordan Siemens, The writer travelled as a guest of Le Meridien Hotel in Thimphu.

12Aug2015

Thy kingdom come: why you should visit Bhutan this year

August 12, 2015

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extraordinary Himalayan nation, Gross National Happiness, High Value, Land of the Thunder Dragon, Lost Shangrila, low impact, size of Bhutan, Tiger's nest, Uma by Como, Visit Bhutan 2015, Why you should visit Bhutan this year - 2015 Articles on Bhutan, News on Bhutan

It’s Visit Bhutan Year, so what better reason to explore this extraordinary Himalayan nation?

Cloud control: the dramatic topography of Paro Valley Martin Morrell

Measuring just a third of the size of England with the population of Suffolk, the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan packs in 16 dialects and jaw-dropping landscapes that vary from subtropical plains to soaring Himalayan peaks, with terraced paddy fields and rhododendron forests in between.

Sometimes known as the Lost Shangri-La and Land of the Thunder Dragon, the world’s youngest democracy adheres to alcohol-free Tuesdays and a plastic bag ban, won’t slaughter animals (but does import meat from India) and, after a dalliance with traffic lights in the capital city Thimphu, takes directions from dapper policemen standing in the middle of the road. This is, after all, the country that has famously used “gross national happiness” (GNH) as a measure for determining national policies for omore than 40 years.

The adoption of GNH as the guiding philosophy of the then 25-year-old independent nation of Bhutan was one of many revolutionary measures introduced by its fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck. The “King-Father of Bhutan” reigned from 1972 to 2006, dragging the country out of a centuries-long time warp.

Implementing GNH just four months into his rule, on his 17th birthday, he went on to launch Bhutan’s international airline, Drukair, in 1983; lifted bans on television and the internet in 1999; and set the wheels in motion to turn the country into a constitutional monarchy.

In 2006 he abdicated in favour of his son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, enabling the fifth king to put the finishing touches to Bhutan’s democratisation and oversee its first parliamentary elections in 2008.

The introduction of tourism to Bhutan was another of Jigme Singye Wangchuck’s reforms. Recognising both the value international visitors could contribute and the damage they could wreak to one of the world’s most pristine cultures and environments, he implemented a policy of “high value, low impact” tourism in 1974, obliging international visitors to pay a daily tariff of $130. It has since risen to a maximum of $250 but takes into account accommodation, an obligatory guide and access to key sights.

Within hours of landing at Paro and after a restorative ginger tea at the valley’s flagship hotel, Uma Paro, I was following Karma, my guide for the week, along a fragrant path carpeted in pine needles and flanked by flowering dogwoods and Szechuan pepper plants. Winding high above the valley, we reached an ancient temple set amid Himalayan cypress trees and fluttering prayer flags before descending to Paro’s spectacular dzong, one of countless imposing fortresses that dot the Bhutanese landscape, serving as monastic and administrative centres.

A stroll around the food market revealed strings of chugo, yak cheese boiled in milk and dried in the sun; hessian bags overflowing with dried chillies and powdered juniper incense; and squares of khoo: dried, jellied cow skin. Their lips stained vermillion with betel nut juice, the vendors offered us samples, their weathered faces breaking into wide smiles at the reaction of the chilip (foreigner).

Listening to crimson-robed monks playing drums and flutes in shaded courtyards, and watching the richly painted temple walls come alive in the light of flickering yak butter candles, was bewitching.

We’d hiked up to the monastery first thing in the morning, ensuring we had the place almost to ourselves for a couple of hours, leaving time for another steep walk to a temple set across a ravine from Tiger’s Nest.

Passing beneath a rowdy family of golden langur monkeys, we reached the temple, which delivered sweeping views of the monastery. As I marvelled at the view, Karma took out a slender bamboo flute and began to play a lilting folk tune. Builders renovating the temple roof soon downed tools and sang along, the fluttering prayer flags keeping a gentle beat.

Over the coming days, as I travelled between Paro, Thimphu and Punakha, Karma would play his flute and recount tales of warring deities and promiscuous saints as we walked through luminous paddy fields and dense poinsettia forests to reach richly-decorated temples and stupas. He coaxed me across suspension bridges above turbulent rivers and took me on a long, bucolic bike ride alongside the Paro river. He taught me archery, Bhutan’s national sport, and an ancient form of darts called kuru in the shade of pine trees at Uma Paro.

Both this hotel and its sister property, Uma Punakha, reflect how rapidly Bhutan is catching up with the rest of the world: the Paro property, which opened in 2004, is all traditional Bhutanese architecture with a dash of colonial grandeur. Uma Punakha, eight years younger, comes complete with floor-to-ceiling windows, low-slung white sofas, watermelon margaritas and Wagyu beef burgers. The latter is said to be a particular favourite of the King when he’s at his summer residence nearby. As the hotel’s manager, Thamu Krishnan, confirms: “Given how little there was here 10 years ago, the progress is astounding: every monk has a mobile, every lama has a laptop.”

Similary, tourism to Bhutan has increased rapidly. International arrivals were just under 10,000 in 2004, increasing to almost 60,000 last year. That said, this is still less than the number of visitors Venice receives in a single day.

November 11 will herald the 60th birthday of the visionary King-Father, a milestone which is being celebrated by the country throughout the year with special literary and dance festivals, concerts, tree planting and fire blessings. It’s billed as Visit Bhutan Year and really you should, to glimpse an extraordinary country that’s catching up with the world but at its own pace and in its own way.

CONTRIBUTED BY: Gabriella Le Breton

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