February 24, 2010  

Talk about bringing in thousands of tourists more, do the proponents and servicers of this gargantuan leap have their ethics and etiquettes right?

May be not!

Not surprising then that the prime minister frequently inserted talks about ethics during his engagement with the tourism stakeholders on Wednesday.

He said it was morally and ethically incorrect for the guides to fleece out favours from their guests. Asking for study sponsorships and seeking invitations to visit their countries, for example, were unbecoming of their profession and could not take place in the land of GNH.

“They should not be going back from our country with obligations,” Lyonchhen Jigmi Y. Thinley said, “they need to be going back filled with happiness.

”Likewise, guides taking commissions from shops which sold goods to tourists tantamounts to cheating and was unfair to those which did not stoop to this practice. Similarly operators were poaching tourists from each other.

In response to a representative of the guide association of Bhutan who said the shops themselves were also a party to this malpractice, the prime minister said those who give and those who take should be equally accountable.

There was much to be desired on the behaviour front, too. When Bhutanese culture was the predominant reason for tourists coming to Bhutan, the guides could not possibly flaunt themselves in jeans and other casuals during work. They must instead reflect and manifest Bhutanese culture in their conduct, especially as the guides are at the frontline and represent the face of the nation.

The tour operators were guilty, too. They walked to and from their offices in casuals, even during the working days, as if the national dress was the sole preserve of government offices.“If it is Bhutanese culture that is being sold to tourists and if Bhutan is to lose its culture, what is there left to sell?” he asked.

Sangay Phurba, representing the guides association, agreed that such unsavoury practices took place. Of Bhutan’s 1,300 odd tour guides, barely five percent were trained and professional.  He however assured that the association had drawn a code of ethics which would be implemented to create a cadre of professional guides in the country.

The prime minister also asked the guides and hotels to help not portray Bhutan as a sex destination. As a rule tourists should not be allowed to stay in hotels which encouraged and thrived on sleaze. The hotels should also be hygienic so that Bhutan does not earn disrepute as a country which is, health-wise, unsafe for tourists. Health standards must be set and monitored and, likewise, for environment-friendliness.

About 68% of tourists visiting Bhutan rated the services as good. It was pointed out that this was not good enough especially for a country that was pitching itself as a high-end destination. The tour operators, hoteliers, handicraft sellers submitted to the prime minister that these ills will be stopped henceforth through strict monitoring, vigilance and punitive actions if needed.