High value low volume tourism: Bhutan
In January of 2020 just as the world was shutting down - it seems like a lifetime ago, right? - I was fortunate enough to be invited to visit Bhutan. I confess, when I opened the email and read the name of the destination, I resorted to googling ‘Where is Bhutan?’. Now, goodness, I will never forget. Bhutan, wonderful Bhutan. The last great Himalayan Kingdom, a place so shrouded in mystery, secrecy and magic, that most of us, even if we have ever given it any thought at all, have it filed away in our mind as ‘somewhere in the mountains, Tibet kind of way’. Some sort of Earthly Paradise even?
In his fabulous interwar novel Lost Horizon, James Hilton has four ‘Westerners’ end up in the mythical valley of Shangri-La. They find there a wonderful Himalayan utopia, a permanently happy land, isolated from the world. Many have since sought the kernel of truth behind the novel, but no one has ever succeeded in pinning it down. Today Shangri-La, rather than a historical place is often a personal, spiritual even, non site-specific location. More of a state of mind; the mythical ‘destination’ of a quest we can each choose to undertake to find that special place, or feeling when we can finally call ourselves ‘happy’.
When it comes to tourism, Bhutan has a motto; ‘High Value, Low Volume’. When it comes to everyday life, Bhutan has one word: ‘happiness’. On this trip one evening for dinner I was joined by Pema Thinley formerly a Government employee responsible for the collection and analysis of the Gross National Happiness questionnaire. He explained over strong beer and delicious curries how every four years the Government survey roughly 10% of the 750.000 total population in order to assess how happy they are. The very concept that Governments govern in such a way as to make their people happier, is so stunningly obvious yet so far from current trends. I take a long time to fall asleep that night.
The next day, Subesh, our guide picked us up early as always and we were back on the road. We travelled through valleys, across stunning mountain passes. Temples revealed themselves improbably carved out of rock faces. Everywhere we were greeted by some of the kindest, calmest people I have met throughout the exactly 100 countries I have visited. Subesh explained it is illegal to hoot your horn in the car and there are no traffic lights. There is tourism in Bhutan and there are tourists, but it is not like anywhere else I have been. I’ve always maintained that, thankfully, at any given junction 99% of tourists will still go left (or right)… There is still room for the discerning traveller even in Venice or Paris. However Bhutan is the destination equivalent of turning left, when all go right.
In Bhutan, I celebrated the fact that only around seventy thousand Western tourists visit this country each year. I spent three days in the country’s capital not seeing another Westerner. Obviously it is counter intuitive for a Tour Guide to think, much less write, promoting tourism in an unspoilt destination. And it’s true that nowhere, before Bhutan, has ever challenged me in this way. Do I keep the secret when I return, or tell others how incredible this country is? All too soon my sojourn in the Himalayas came to and end. At the airport I was presented with a traditional costume that the mother of my tour guide had sewn for my son, after asking to see his photo. I boarded my flight and immediately my thoughts turned to not only when will I be back, but more importantly, for the first time ever, how and should I be back?
As I flew out, Everest appeared peaking through the clouds to my right. My mind once again recalled Lost Horizon and Bhutan seemed again a mythical place. Was it all real? Now in creating itineraries with Diamond Skies I have become more aware of how we travel. What are we trying to show, to ‘teach’? And above all, which genuinely wonderful, off the beaten path, authentic places are left out there for us to explore?
I arrived knowing little more about this place than an outline on a map and the words of James Hilton ringing in my ears. Yet in my ten days here, I never heard anyone in Bhutan referring to it as Shangri-La, a marketing ploy that would be so easy. In typical Bhutanese fashion, they just do not need to shout. I came with suitcases and ideas full of tourism that here seemed from another planet, of time, deadlines schedules which from the moment I landed, somehow these people, without me even noticing, gently emptied. In turn my mind and bag, they filled with the priceless value of happiness. Bhutan is out there for us all to see - we can be relaxed and happy on holiday at the same time. I know I am so happy to be returning this year with Diamond Skies - to share this wonderful place and above all go left where everyone else goes right. The question is an easy one - why not join me?
“We have reason. It is the entire meaning and purpose of Shangri-La. It came to me in a vision long, long ago. I foresaw a time when man exalting in the technique of murder, would rage so hotly over the world, that every book, every treasure would be doomed to destruction. This vision was so vivid and so moving that I determined to gather together all things of beauty and culture that I could and preserve them here against the doom toward which the world is rushing. Look at the world today. Is there anything more pitiful? What madness there is! What blindness! A scurrying mass of bewildered humanity crashing headlong against each other. The time must come, my friend, when brutality and the lust for power must perish by its own sword. For when that day comes, the world must begin to look for a new life. And it is our hope that they may find it here.”
James Hilton, Lost Horizon
If you would like to join Thomas and Diamond Skies on our trip to Bhutan, please click here.
