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☆ Bhutan turns to 'Gross National Happiness 2.0' as crisis deepens
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | Penny Sadler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Bhutan's governing philosophy of "Gross National Happiness" has been heralded the world over for balancing economic growth with the well-being of its citizens. But recent discussions of "Gross National Happiness 2.0" by its newly elected Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay suggest that change on some level is underway as the country struggles with an economic crisis that's left it — as Tobgay has said— "teetering on the brink of collapse." But with youth unemployment rates of nearly 30% and about one in eight people living in poverty, has Bhutan reached a point where its quest for national happiness must change? Seen from the successes of the social progress area, we have failed economically." But seen from the successes of the social progress area, we have failed economically."

Persons: Tshering Tobgay, Tobgay, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, we've, We've Organizations: CNBC Locations: Bhutan, Asia

☆ Think Bhutan’s $100 daily tourism fee is pricey? It could go even higher, says prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | Penny Sadler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Bhutan may reconsider its controversial $100 daily tourism fees if the country's tourism industry recovers soon, Bhutan's Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay told CNBC on May 10. Bhutan reopened its borders in September 2022 with an increased "Sustainable Development Fee" of $200 per person per day in place. Indian travelers pay a reduced fee of 1,200 Bhutanese ngultrum ($14.50) per night, and daytrippers from India are exempt from the fee, according to Bhutan's Department of Immigration. The rate often included hotel, transportation and tour guide costs, and the mandatory $65 Sustainable Development Fee. Now, those costs are in addition to the $100 Sustainable Development Fee.

Persons: Tshering Tobgay, Tobgay, Tobgay's Organizations: Bhutan's, CNBC, Bhutan's Department of Immigration, Tourism, of Bhutan, Tobgay's People's Democratic Party . Locations: Bhutan, Asia, India, daytrippers

☆ Bhutan's new 'Mindfulness City' is massive — with plans showing a city unlike any other in the world
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The kingdom of Bhutan is planning a "mindfulness city" that, if built, will cover some 2.5% of the country — an area larger than Singapore. Plans show the 1,000-square-kilometer city will be built near the town of Gelephu, along Bhutan's southern border with India. "Gelephu Mindfulness City," as it's called in the project's masterplan, will serve as an economic hub and gateway for tourists to the rest of the country, according to a press release published in late January. However, most other international visitors fly into Paro International Airport, near Bhutan's largest city and capital, Thimphu, which is some 26 square kilometers in size. Like Saudi Arabia's planned linear city, called The Line, Gelephu Mindfulness City rethinks how modern cities look, function and serve the needs of residents.

Persons: Bhutan's, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck Organizations: Paro International, Saudi Locations: Bhutan, Singapore, Gelephu, India, Paro, Bhutan's, Thimphu

☆ Malaysia’s last tigers: Why this rare image is giving conservationists hope
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Rebecca Cairns | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“This image is the last image of the Malayan tiger — or it’s the first image of the return of the Malayan tiger,” he says. ‘A million-dollar shot’Regular camera traps — like the hundreds already used by the park’s scientists, researchers and conservationists — are typically the size of a large smartphone and activated by broad-range motion sensors. Rondeau's high-resolution camera traps included a DSLR camera in a waterproof casing. Emmanuel Rondeau, wildlife photographerBut there’s still more work to be done. As a keystone species, tigers are essential to a healthy ecosystem – and without them, the 130-million-year-old rainforests around the Belum-Temengor complex could be threatened, too.

Persons: CNN — Emmanuel Rondeau, “, ”, Rondeau, ” Rondeau, ‘, —, I’m, ” Rondeau didn’t, ‘ I’m, Carol Debra, Azlan Mohamed, Mohamed, Debra, Emmanuel Rondeau, Stuart Chapman, Chapman, ” Stuart Chapman, Merapi Mat Razi, there’s Organizations: CNN, WWF, Peninsular Malaysia, Malayan, Malaysia, Malaysia WWF, Malaysia —, country’s, “ Tigers, US, Malayan Tiger Conservation, Tiger, WWF’s Tigers, Initiative, Tigers, WWF – Malaysia, Royal, United Nations, Conservation Task Force, Bureau Locations: Asia, Siberia, Bhutan, Malaysia, Peninsular, Southeast Asia, Belum, Asli, “, Royal Belum, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Park

☆ New party to face old guard in Bhutan's fourth free vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Gopal Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) received the highest number of votes in the preliminary round of the election held on Thursday, followed by the Bhutan Tendrel Party (BTP), the ECB said. Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT), the party headed by outgoing Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, finished fourth, the ECB vote counts showed. PDP, headed by former Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, is a liberal group founded in 2007, which had formed the government in Bhutan between 2013 and 2018. They also share similar views on several other issues such as the development of hydroelectric power, agricultural growth, and unemployment. Majority-Buddhist Bhutan, which is roughly the size of Switzerland, has deep economic and trade relations with its southern neighbour, India, which is its biggest donor.

Persons: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, Jetsun Pema, Britain's King Charles, Henry Nicholls, Nyamrup, Lotay Tshering, Tshering Tobgay, Pema Chewang, Gopal Sharma, Alex Richardson Organizations: Buckingham, REUTERS, Bhutan, Democratic Party, Bhutan Tendrel Party, ECB, Buddhist, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, China, India, Bhutan, Buddhist Bhutan, Switzerland

☆ Bhutan Votes in Preliminary Round of National Elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

By Gopal SharmaKATHMANDU (Reuters) - Bhutan began voting on Thursday in the preliminary round of national elections to choose two political parties that will contest the fourth free vote since democracy was established in the Himalayan kingdom 15 years ago. Nestled between China and India, Bhutan is known for its Gross National Happiness (GNH) index, an economic gauge that takes into account factors normally ignored by gross domestic product measures, like recreation and emotional well-being. Nearly half a million of the country’s fewer than 800,000 people are eligible to vote for the five political parties that are in the fray. The two parties that win the highest number of votes will qualify for the final round of the election to the 47-member National Assembly, set to take place on Jan. 9. Analysts say all five political parties have vowed to boost the $3 billion economy that is dependent on aid and tourism.

Persons: Gopal Sharma, “, ”, Karma, Stephen Coates Organizations: National Assembly, Bhutan, Analysts Locations: Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU, Bhutan, China, India, Punakha, Thimphu, Switzerland

☆ Remote mountain Kingdom of Bhutan is operating secret, state-owned Bitcoin mining facilities, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Forbes said it had identified the sites of four secret, state-owned Bitcoin mining facilities in Bhutan. El Salvador is the only other country known to operate state-owned Bitcoin mining facilities. AdvertisementThe Kingdom of Bhutan has secretly developed a series of bitcoin mining facilities, a Forbes investigation has revealed. Other images also show high-capacity power lines and transformers running from Bhutan's hydroelectric plants to the mining sites, Forbes reported. The Dochula Pass is a Bhutanese mountain pass located on the road from Thimphu to Punakha, near where one of the mining facilities has been discovered.

Persons: Forbes, —, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Organizations: Service, Forbes, Labs, Google, Education, VW Locations: Bhutan, El Salvador, Dochula, Trongsa, Thimphu, Punakha, India, Salvador

☆ Why American families are leaving the US for Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Maureen O'Hare | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Editor’s Note: Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Finally, Pennsylvanian Alan Andrew and his Belgian husband, Vincent Proost, bought a rundown farmhouse in the Alentejo region of Portugal. Young hearts run freeThere comes a day in all our lives when we’ve taken our final vacation, whether we realize it at the time or not. From next year, it won’t even be free to travel to Europe. The new ETIAS visa waiver program will allow entry into EU countries for fees starting at $7.70.

Persons: who’ve, Dawkins, Nadine, Kim, –, Alan Andrew, Vincent Proost, we’ve, Terry Ward, you’re, We’ve, It’s, CNN Riiya Shukla, Arabia ”, “, ” Organizations: CNN, Labor, Pearl, Auckland, Auckland Airport Locations: United States, Texas, Latronico, North Carolina, Umbria, Belgian, Alentejo, Portugal, Florida, Canada, Italy, Europe, Asia, Bhutan, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Tokyo, Kong’s, New Zealand, Norway, Arabia, Antalya, Instagram

☆ Bhutan cuts daily tourist fee by half to lure more visitors
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Gopal Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"This is in view of the important role of the tourism sector in generating employment, earning foreign exchange ... and in boosting overall economic growth," it said. Isolated for generations, Bhutan opened to tourists in 1974 when it received 300 visitors. The tourist fee has limited arrivals to bigger spenders who make up a fraction of the numbers that visit nearby Nepal. Nevertheless, Bhutan hopes to raise the contribution of tourism to its $3 billion economy 20%, from about 5%. In June, the government eased rules on length of stay and fees for tourists but numbers have not picked up as expected.

Persons: Dorji Dhradhul, Dhradhul, Gopal Sharma, Robert Birsel Organizations: Department of Tourism, Thomson Locations: KATHMANDU, Bhutan, COVID, Nepal

☆ Investor who studied at Harvard's 'Happiness Lab' shares the No. 1 thing that 'actually drives happiness'—it isn't money
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Alexa von Tobel learned at Harvard University that money doesn't buy happiness. But despite her own financial success, von Tobel, 39, says she's derived the most happiness throughout her career from "the intangibles that money can't buy." "Through my time at Harvard's Happiness Lab during my undergrad years, I really gained a new perspective on what drives happiness," von Tobel tells CNBC Make It, adding: "What actually drives happiness are the simple routines and the daily rituals in our lives that create community and connectedness." In college, von Tobel earned Magna Cum Laude honors for a senior thesis on happiness in the small country of Bhutan, according to her LinkedIn profile. "The daily effort drives happiness, not the outcome," says von Tobel.

Persons: Alexa von Tobel, She's, von Tobel, she's, Von Tobel, Tal Ben, Shahar, Shawn Achor, It's, Warren Buffett Organizations: Harvard University, Northwestern Mutual, Harvard, CNBC, Magna Cum Laude Locations: Bhutan, LearnVest

Most of the recent arrivals have settled in Perth, Western Australia, where they have enrolled in courses such as childcare, hospitality and accounting. Tashi Kipchu, a 25-year-old education consultant, is one of many who came to Australia last year in search of better opportunities. People don't see an opportunity out there," said Kipchu, who studied marketing at the University of Western Australia. That accelerated after the reopening of borders in Australia in 2022, with official data showing student visa applications from Bhutan jumping fivefold in the fiscal year ended June. At Kingston International College, a vocational education provider in Western Australia, about 150 Bhutanese students receive training, said managing director Tandin Dorji, himself a Bhutanese migrant.

Persons: Cathal McNaughton SYDNEY, Tashi Kipchu, Kipchu, Phil Honeywood, Sonam Tobgay, Tandin Dorji, Dorji, Stella Qiu, Gopal Sharma, Sam Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, University of Western, International Education Association of Australia, Bhutan's, Kingston International College, Thomson Locations: Thimphu, Bhutan, KATHMANDU, Australia, Perth, Western Australia, University of Western Australia, South Asia, China, India, Nepal, Bhutanese, Sydney, Kathmandu

☆ It’s now cheaper for travelers to go to Bhutan — if they stay long enough
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Travelers can avoid paying some of Bhutan's daily tourism fees, as long as they stay at least five nights. Travelers who pay the SDF for the first four days can stay an additional four days without paying the fee, according to an announcement on Bhutan's Department of Tourism website. Bhutan's Department of Immigration created a website where travelers can calculate potential savings under the different incentive programs. Government officials are quick to point out that Bhutan's SDF has not changed however, and remains $200 per traveler per night. A controversial feeSpending at least $200 a day isn't new to travelers to Bhutan.

Organizations: Travelers, Bhutan's Department of Tourism, Bhutan's Department of Immigration Locations: Bhutan

☆ Bhutan welcomes back tourists after COVID-19 with honey, turmeric and SIM cards
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Gopal Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A group of foreign tourists with a local guide walk past a row of shops selling handicrafts in Thimphu May 22, 2012. Wedged between China and India, the country known for its natural beauty and ancient Buddhist culture, first opened to wealthy tourists in 1974. In March 2020 it shut its borders to visitors - a major source of income - after detecting its first case of COVID-19. "We feel through tourism we can do that ... take advantage of their support and goodwill," he told Reuters from Bhutan, referring to the international community. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Gopal SharmaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ When Bhutan Reopens, Tourists From Wealthier Countries Will Pay a Lot More
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Shefali Anand | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

One of the world’s most exclusive travel destinations is about to become even more so. When the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan reopens its doors for tourists for the first time in 2½ years on Friday it will charge many of them a higher “sustainable development” fee of $200 per person per night.

☆ You can visit Bhutan again — if you're willing to cough up $200 a day in fees
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Monica Buchanan Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Andrew Stranovsky Photography | Moment | Getty ImagesSam Blyth, chair of The Bhutan Canada Foundation and founder of the Trans Bhutan Trail, said the fees will go directly to help local communities. Travelers, too, will benefit from the increased fees, according to the Tourism Council. However, the Tourism Council of Bhutan said the pandemic provided the right time "to reset the sector." He is the founder of the Trans Bhutan Trail, a not-for-profit company that helped revitalize a 250-mile ancient trail that traverses the center of the country. Sam Blyth, Trans Bhutan Trail, visiting Bhutan, trekking Bhutan

☆ The world's most powerful are gathered in London for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral. Here's who is — and isn't — there
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Wpa Pool | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty ImagesHundreds of global dignitaries are gathered in London Monday to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, marking a level of ceremony unseen in the U.K. for decades. Britain's King Charles III waves as he's driven down the Mall in London on September 19, 2022, ahead of the State Funeral Service of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. - Leaders from around the world will attend the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. President of United States Joe Biden and Jill Biden arrive for the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey on September 19, 2022 in London, England. Japan's Emperor Naruhito and his wife Empress Masako arrive at Westminster Abbey in London on September 19, 2022, for the State Funeral Service for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.

☆ Factbox: World leaders to attend Queen Elizabeth's funeral
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Canadian Prime minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau attend the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey. Jack Hill/Pool via REUTERSRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterLONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Queen Elizabeth's state funeral will take place in London on Monday and a host of world leaders, royalty and other dignitaries will attend. Countries that have not been invited include Syria and Venezuela because London does not have normal diplomatic relations with those states. Britain has also not invited representatives from Russia, Belarus or Myanmar after it imposed economic sanctions on those countries. Related ContentFactbox: Plans for Queen Elizabeth's state funeral on MondayFactbox: Comments from crowds in London on Queen ElizabethFactbox: World leaders to attend Queen Elizabeth's funeralFactbox: Order of service for Queen Elizabeth's state funeralWindsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth's home and now final resting placeWestminster Abbey - traditional church for royals in life and death(This story was refiled to correct spelling of first name of Belize governor general)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterCompiled by Farouq Suleiman and Kate Holton Editing by Deepa Babington and Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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