Bhutan Tourism
Bhutan often referred to as the “Last Shangrila” or the “Land of the Thunder Dragon” is one of the most beautiful places one can ever visit. Covered by beautiful mountain terrain, spectacularly unique architecture, Buddhist temples and monasteries and beautiful and friendly people, is the small himalayan country called Bhutan.
Bhutanese regard the environment as a very important part in the continuation of this human race and the relation between humans and nature or the environment. So, the government and the people of Bhutan take care to ensure that their beautiful and clean environment and nature is not polluted and spoilt.
In a regular year, upto 100,000 tourists visit Bhutan. As unique as it may sound, the government of Bhutan has a restriction or ceiling placed on the number of tourists visiting Bhutan. Though the revenue from Bhutam tourism would increase if there was no ceiling on the number of tourists traveling to Bhutan, to most, the government had made a wise decision on the ceiling. With the increase in Bhutan tourism numbers, there will be a similar increase on the impact of environment.
Despite the ceiling and the relatively less number of tourists who travel to Bhutan, Bhutan tourism industry is flourishing with several of new Bhutan Tourism tour companies starting each year. An even unique thing about Bhutan tourism is that, no matter which tour company you travel to Bhutan through, you will have to pay the same cost of travel, i.e the Bhutan government set Bhutan Tourism Tarriff. And, you are to travel to Bhutan only through a registered Bhutan tour company.
Recommended and Top tour companies in Bhutan
From the hundreds of tourism companies in Bhutan, check out our list of recommended Bhutan tour companies before you embark on your travel to Bhutan.
1. Bhutan Tourism Corporation Ltd. (BTCL)
This is the largest tour company in Bhutan in terms of the number of tourists visiting the country. It is owned by shareholders and the Bhutan government has a considerable amount of shares in the country. They have their own fleet of transport buses, cars and their own hotels in Thimphu - capital of Bhutan and most of the dzongkhags in Bhutan.
2. Etho Metho Tours and Treks
After Bhutan Tourism Corporation Ltd.(BTCL), comes Etho Metho tours & treks (in terms of number of tourists traveling to Bhutan). They have their own fleet of buses, their permanent seasoned tour guides, but no hotels of their own.
3. Yangphel Tours
Yangphel is also a big tourism company in the Bhutan tourism industry. They also own a five star resort called the “Zhiwaling” in Paro.
4. The rest….
After the three top tour companies, during peak tourist season in Bhutan, it would be advisable if you travel to Bhutan through a lesser known tour company, as the big companies would be busy with large number of tourist, and they might not be able to render the same courteous service to every tourist they receive.
There is no difference when it comes to chosing which tour company to travel with, as the tarriff remains same with all the travel companies, and every travel company will do their best to render the same quality service to every tourist visiting the country.
The only thing to take note is, when you book your Bhutan tour with a Bhutan travel company, please make sure the company is a Government Registered one. You can check if the company is listed in the Association for Bhutanese Tour Operators website.(www.abto.org.bt).
Some of our recommended tour companies are :
Xplore Bhutan Trekking and Rafting
Namdra Adventures Tours & Treks
Bhutan Mountain Holiday
Bhutan Neoly Travels
Dragon Tours
Windhorse tours
