To win laurels for tourism

The Sanskrit saying ‘Adidhi devo bhava’ (your guest is your god) is the classical wisdom of the hospitality industry or tourism. This wisdom is practised in Bhutan so naturally, nowhere else. Hospitality is an enviable Bhutanese value, untutored and spontaneous. Who is, therefore, a better tourist guide than a Bhutanese? This apart, its rich cultural diversity, its inimitable biodiversity and its unique administrative mantra – GNH etc. make Bhutan a highly sought-after tourist destination. Here is a veritable potential and she has to tap it to the lees. The potential is for domestic and foreign tourism.

Domestic tourism in order to discover Bhutan

The ‘Discovery of Bhutan’, almost to the tune of the Nehruvian passion to discover India, should be at the heart of every Bhutanese, especially the public servant. Only then do Bhutanese discover themselves: their rich history and heritage, the pains and sighs of their forefathers, which have erected the unique nationhood of Bhutan. It is this national awareness and awakening through in-country tours that catalyses the realization of the ‘one people; one nation’ vision.

A native tourist amid the ruins of the Drukgyel Dzong, for example, sees in his/her inward eye the Zhabdrung commanding its construction. A true Bhutanese tourist near the Tang Chhu visualizes Pema Lingpa appearing out of the waters with many a religious text. One here cannot escape Nehru’s words in his  The Discovery of India (2005), pp. 50, 51: India was in my blood and there was much in her that instinctively thrilled me….

These journeys and visits of mine, with the background of my reading, gave me an insight into the past. To a somewhat bare intellectual understanding was added an emotional appreciation and a sense of reality began to creep into my mental picture of India…

Such an emotional appreciation refines, enhances and promotes the common man’s patriotism and the politician’s statesmanship. E.M. Forster (1879-1970) also highlights the importance of an awareness of the past, culture and tradition for a better appreciation of the present.

Here is the importance of the Parliamentarians’ home tourism. They who lead the people and tie them into one nation should first be thrilled by the rich variety that the kingdom is and the beauty of the unity in that diversity. Bhutan in all her diversity should permeate into their blood. Beyond the bounds of one’s constituency, each Parliamentarian may tour around the country to discover the soul of Bhutan. These discoveries are breakthroughs in a legislator’s making.

Bhutan’s diversity pulls insiders and outsiders

Such discoveries are avenues that showcase the rich cultural diversity of the kingdom to the insiders, besides outsiders. The Tshanglas, the Lhotshampas, the Bumthaps, the Kurtoeps and the Doyas etc. are but some prominent patterns in the cultural tapestry of the nation. And, each ethnic group has its own identity and culture.

A tour enthusiast is naturally interested in, for instance, the smoked fish (nga-dotsem) production by the Oleps in Rukha, Wangdue. A keen visitor is drawn by the bartering system by the nomadic Layaps of their yak and sheep products with the people of Wangdue and Punakha for essential food stuff. The other customs and skills of interest could be: the Brokpa tradition of ‘Drukor’, the Kurtoep’s specialty called Kushithara and the Bumthap’s annual Tho tsui travel to Kurtoi etc. The possibilities of such globally unique practices are immense in Bhutan.

Regional tourism

Beyond the intra-national tourism appeal, one could think of possibilities for the promotion of regional tourism. The ethnic roots of certain communities are an academic attraction, for example. Scholar tourists may be interested in studies across the Sharchop communities in Bhutan and the people of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh in India. For both speak the same tongue. The sameness of the language means much, much more than mere language. Likewise, Arunachal and Nagaland are said to be the ancestral home for the Monpa community in Bhutan. Thus, peoples of India and the other neighbours could be drawn to intra-regional tourism. Perhaps, this would be a potential area for SAARC deliberations and research.

Tourism for world peace

Thus, when human interactions through tourism go across national boundaries, a new wave of socio-economic dynamism is generated globally. Tourism thus is a therapy to the warped psychology of fratricidal enmity. Peoples develop mutual understanding and appreciation of each others’ cultures, councils, governments, men and manners; they get more tolerant and appreciative. In the global scenario of 218 days’ becoming leisure time against 147 working days (Herman Kahn, 1976) and the 21st century’s turning into “the century of tourism”, the world is to grow into a global village, where travel across the nations is made easier with few – if any – bottlenecks of red-tapism. It is this intimacy and proximity between nations, facilitated by tourism in earnest, which ushers in world peace. Put differently, international tourism should be a prime priority of the UNO. For tourism melts national barriers – be it political, ethnic or emotional.

It is at the right juncture of time – a great watershed in history – that His Majesty enunciated the concept of GNH:  a time when a new Elysium of international peace was so much desired, a time when the world eagerly looked forward to a lasting joy mantra, a time when waves of globalization swept along native and alien shores.

Which country with its GNH philosophy is better suited than Bhutan to bear the palm in promoting world peace through tourism?

Tourism deterrants to go

As Bhutan has rich potentials for booming tourism, she needs to pre-empt the common tourism deterrents. Worldwide, the industry is slackened by terrorism, hiking oil prices, economic recession and so on. Bhutan being one of the peaceful Asian countries, terrorism poses no threat. The issue of oil price hike and recession should be tackled administratively. At management levels, hospitality education should be invigorated. Besides, in this cyber world, the help of IT could be increasingly exploited for tourism management.

IT apart, Bhutan’s indigenous strength namely GNH can have good leverage in successful tourism. The administrative philosophy of Gross National Happiness has already hooked national attention and people across the globe would like to tour to Bhutan on that count – to be enlightened on the equilibrium between development and the perennial quest of man called happiness. Plus, the fourth Druk Gyalpo, His Majesty’s being honoured by Japan’s Imperial Highness an award for the outstanding contribution to the protection of global environment has set the world’s eyes on Bhutan once more.

I dream that Bhutan soon gets ready with a comprehensive ‘tourist manifesto’, spelling out the synergized activities between the various stakeholders of Tourism, Immigration, Tourist operation, Hospitality education and so on. A spin-off of having such a manifesto comprises: (i) identification of various packages such as mountain tourism, wildlife tourism, ecotourism, mass tourism and so on (ii) production, screening and popularization of native movies in English, which unfold the nation’s rich culture and tradition (iii) creation of amusement parks and mountain resorts. (iv) installation of museums, handicraft emporia, culture fests and (v) the  acceptance of the ‘Ngultrum’ internationally etc.

epilogue

Why do I, a non-Bhutanese, dream? Yea, that is the pull of Bhutan on a non- Bhutanese.

Contributed By K C Jose