Peak season

Autumn lives up to billing as peak season

  

Thimphu Tshechu: Almost half of all dollar-paying tourists, scheduled to visit Bhutan this month, are already here for the Thimphu tshechu, records with the tourism council of Bhutan secretariat show.

Close to 5,000 international tourists are scheduled to visit the country this month, of which 2,408 are specifically booked for September 22-27, Thimphu tshechu, the biggest draw for the autumn tourist season.

Thimphu and Paro tshechu, according to last year’s tourism monitor, continued to receive maximum tourists every year.

Last year, during the same period, more than 4,000 tourists visited Bhutan; while the overall tourist turnout stood at 64,028, which includes visitors from the region.

Tour operators, hoteliers, guides, and handicrafts do brisk business at this time of year, and the national airline, Drukair, deploys additional flights to accommodate the sudden increase in passengers during the tshechu season.

The president of association of Bhutanese tour operators, Karma Lotey, said this festive season was even busier than last year. “There’s a shortage of almost everything, right from vehicles and guides to hotel rooms,” he said.

Hotels in Thimphu, Paro, Punakha, and Wangduephodrang are packed with the autumn season guests.  A hotelier said it was a normal thing to be packed during the peak season. “Hotel occupancies are at their fullest during the peak seasons and, during the lean season, we’re empty again,” he said.

Most tourists, according to last year’s tourism monitor, chose their time of visits, depending on the festival dates and favourable weather.

Meanwhile, the tourism council’s target for this year is to bring in 100,000 high-end tourists.  The total international tourist arrival, as of September 24, stood at 26,440.

The tourism sector is second to hydropower, when it comes to contribution towards the national exchequer.