Druk Yul - Land of the Thunder Dragon, Bhutan is one of the major budget tourist attractions for Indians to visit and the Bhutan visa has been free of cost as well. However, as per the recently drafted tourism policy, the Bhutan tourist visa is about to get expensive for Indians, Maldivians and Bangladeshis. This draft has been prepared by the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) and is yet to be finalised by the Bhutanese Cabinet in December.
The decision of putting a price on the Bhutan visa was taken due to the tourists flooding the country. According to the figures mentioned by the Hindu in the year 2018, out of the 2,74,000 tourists in Bhutan, 1,80,000 were Indians.
The latest draft was discussed by Bhutanese Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Delhi on Monday. As per the new policy, Indians will now have to pay a Sustainable Development Fee along with the visa processing fee.