Sustainable Pro-Poor Tourism in Bhutan

Gerhard ADAM Sustainable Pro-Poor Tourism in Bhutan Master’s Thesis to be awarded the degree of Master of Arts (MA) in Global Studies at the University of Graz, Austria Supervised by O.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Friedrich M. Zimmermann Department of Geography and Regional Science Graz, 2014 STATUTORY DECLARATION Unless otherwise indicated in the text or references, this thesis is entirely the product of my own scholarly work. Any inaccuracies of fact or faults in reasoning are my own and accordingly I take full responsibility. This thesis has not been submitted either in whole or part, for a degree at this or any other university or institution. This is to certify that the printed version is equivalent to the submitted electronic one. Graz. 17th November 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Friedrich Zimmermann for introducing me to experts in tourism in the Himalayas as well as for his professional and personal advice throughout the development of this thesis. I am particularly grateful to Gabriele Tischler and Sonam Dorji for opening up the doors to Bhutan for me. Without their confidence in my research project, this master’s thesis would not have been possible. Special thanks are due to Tak Bahadur for his guidance during my research stay. I thank Wangchuk for his constructive comments and Tshering Choki for her cooperation and her efforts in putting the business plan into practice. Furthermore, I want to thank Kurt Luger, Andreas Obrecht, Marjorie Van Strien and Phinjo Sherpa for providing me deep insights in the topic as well as to Christine Jantscher for her invaluable exchanges of insight and information. Also, I express my warm thanks to my friend Kynan Brown for proofreading this thesis and to my brother Helmut, who has supported me throughout my entire research, both by reviewing my business plan und proofreading my thesis. I am sincerely grateful to my parents Monika and Bernhard for their support in every possible way. Finally and most important, I say thank you to my partner Marion for her contribution to this thesis, words cannot simply express the volume of gratitude I would like to extend to her. Sincerely, Gerhard Adam EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Tourism in Bhutan and its benefits and costs are unevenly spread throughout the year, across the country and amongst the population. The purpose of this master’s thesis is to make a theoretical and empirical contribution to counteract this imbalance. To this end, the author conducted in-depth research in Austria, Nepal and Bhutan and wrote a business plan for a community-based bicycle rental service in an ecologically sensitive wetland in Western Bhutan. The research question of this master’s thesis is: “Are the paradigms of sustainable, community-based and pro-poor tourism practicable in Bhutan? If yes, under which premises and limitations?” The theoretical discussion of alternative tourism therefore focuses on the paradigms of sustainable, community-based and pro-poor tourism. The author develops a guiding star , which serves as paradigmatic framework to this thesis. Since all tourism paradigms are ideals which do not exist in pure form in reality, the holistic approach –although aspired by tourism research due to its inter- and multidisciplinarity– is given up. The guiding star is designed as an adaptive paradigm which strives for a middle path between theoretical aspiration and practical reality. Contrary to most approaches, this guiding star distinguishes between social and cultural sustainability as well as between economic and financial sustainability. It identifies the latter, namely the initial financing, as the basic condition for the success of any tourism product aiming at sustainability. The subjective well-being of the local community and its members as well as the optimum satisfaction of the visitor requirements are equally taken into consideration. The generation of net benefits for the “poor” is set as ultimate goal for any tourism product which follows this paradigmatic framework. Before putting theory into practice, tourism planners need to understand the tourist destination itself and its tourism system. Therefore, country facts like geography, people and society, history and economy are presented, which do not only determine tourism but also the development of a country. Besides showing the socioeconomic challenges of Bhutan, this reveals that the ultimate development goal of Bhutan is not the famous Gross National Happiness (GNH) but the magic triangle of identity, sovereignty and security. Sandwiched between the two most populated countries in the world, this magic vii triangle is perceived as guarantor for the survival of the tiny Bhutanese nation. Indeed, any human activity, touristic or not, which counteracts this magic triangle, will have little prospect of success. The tourism system of Bhutan takes account of this magic triangle by following the unique tourism policy high value – low impact . Its study lead to the definition of a generalized profile of the “average tourist to Bhutan” based on statistics of key indicators of tourism. This profile, the portrayal of the country facts as well as of the tourism system and the analysis of Bhutan’s way of development form the basis for setting up the profile of tourism in Bhutan. The visualisation of how the factors extrinsic and intrinsic to tourism are interrelated reveal the unique profile of the country’s tourism formed by a triad of the brand Bhutan , the seasonality of the destination and the Bhutanese tourism policy. Tourism is one means to achieve the development goals of Bhutan and the interrelation of tourism and development goes far beyond the direct financial contribution via the royalty. Within the current Five Year Plan (FYP) the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) initiates proper tourism development programmes, which are designed to foster the fulfilment of its overall development goals. These development programmes and the strategic recommendations of the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB), the tourism regulatory authority of the kingdom, have to be followed by tourism planners. The findings on the Bhutanese tourism system and on the interrelation of tourism and development reveal the “ideal” tourism product for Bhutan. The empirical part of this master’s thesis exemplifies step by step how the tourism product has been developed. This has been done by respecting the guiding star and the tourism development programmes, as well as by tailoring the tourism product to the profile of tourism in Bhutan. As usual in tourism research, a methodological mixture was applied ranging from qualitative to quantitative methods. Beforehand, it was verified that the guiding star is in accordance with the tourism development programmes and a situation survey and analysis of the study area were carried out. As result of the empirical process, the business plan −for which content is pointed out in a separate Executive Summary at its beginning − is shown in its original wording and layout. viii In order to guarantee the financial sustainability of the tourism product, the author applied for funding from the Austrian Cooperation Office (ACO) in Thimphu. The granting of the funding of EUR 8,638 ensures the start-up financing, which is first and foremost going to be used for the purchase of bicycles. The systematic evaluation of the development phase of the new tourism product at the end of this master’s thesis gives the following answer to the research question: Yes, the paradigms of sustainable, community-based and pro-poor tourism are practicable in Bhutan, even though concessions have to be made to the facts on the ground. On the one hand, the most important premise is the necessity to pay more attention to the political sustainability. This would in turn affect positively the subsidiary relationship of external experts with the local community as well as the level of visitor satisfaction. The most important limitation , on the other hand, is that direct profits from tourism for the poorest members of a society can hardly ever be achieved. Although the royalty partly counteracts this tendency, Bhutan is no exception. The notion of ‘poor’ has to be redefined in the context of tourism in Bhutan: Those who are most vulnerable to the socioeconomic challenges of the country, namely rural-urban migration, youth unemployment and lack of jobs in the tertiary sector, should be set as the target group. In conclusion, tourism is rather more advantageous than disadvantageous to the sustainable development of Bhutan. As an economic activity in the tertiary sector, tourism is capable of reducing the country’s economic dependence on India as well as on hydropower and can promote its self-reliance. Further, the creation of jobs in the tertiary sector can counteract youth unemployment and, if centred on rural Bhutan, rural-urban migration. This would lead to a subsequent decentralisation of political, cultural, social and economic life. Whether or not the concrete tourism product developed by the author will contribute toward rebalancing the tourism sector of Bhutan is not yet foreseeable. However, the theoretical findings and the empirical results of this master’s thesis, particularly the business plan as a role model, shall serve as a starting point for future tourism planners developing tourism products in line with the paradigms of sustainable, community-based and pro-poor tourism in Bhutan. ix x TABLE OF CONTENTS Statutory Declaration ...........................................................................................................

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