We’ve had enough! How popular destinations struggle with an overabundance of tourists

You pay extra for sacred nature

The way Bhutan has built a barrier against over-tourism has been tested in many other popular destinations. Those who want to see must pay. But the land lost in the Himalayas has now raised the bar. About an order of magnitude.

While you pay a tourist tax equivalent to one hundred crowns per day in Greece, approximately CZK 130 in France and CZK 170 in Italy, in Bhutan you will be charged less than four thousand for each day. This is what their fee for sustainable development looks like. Of course, don’t forget to add expenses for tourist visas and other fees related to accommodation and guide pay. Fortunately, you do not have to have compulsory insurance with a local insurance company this year.

On the other hand, it must be ensured that no one is awkwardly pretending that your money is not a benefit to the state coffers. They are. Everyone knows it, and getting them is basically the official policy of the kingdom. In addition, the highly set fee for sustainable development has received several favorable reductions. Originally, it was twice as high and paid for all foreigners without distinction. Today it only applies to adults. Children under the age of twelve pay half, and children under the age of six are even free.

The Bhutanese approach seems harsh to foreign tourists, but the locals don’t make much of it. Profits do not flow from thrifty travelers.

The purity of untouched nature is not free. In Bhutan, tourism is building a wall with taxes, visa requirements and fees.

Bhutan’s system of tourism regulation is drastic, but it works. You will practically not experience crowds of tourists or crowds of tourists in front of local landmarks – and that there are any. Just watch out for offenses against the environment. Here, nature is understood as part of the national heritage. And you can get a one-thousand-koruna patch here for poorly sorted waste.