Bhutanese Prime Minister: It is a pure rumor that transportation is difficult and prices are high in Bhutan

“Our culture will be killed, not because the tourists want to (kill the culture), but because the number of tourists will kill our culture.”

Last year, nearly 100,000 tourists arrived in Bhutan, a third of the peak of 350,000 tourists in 2019.

Mr Tobgay said the idea that it was difficult to travel to Bhutan was a misconception that would hurt the country’s tourism industry to some extent.

“Potential tourists would want to visit Bhutan, put it on their bucket list, but never actually go there because people think Bhutan is difficult to get to and transportation is expensive,” he added.

But he said that “mythology” is good to some extent.

“Because when people finally get to Bhutan and breathe our air, taste our water, meet our people, interact with us, connect with us, there is a huge sense of satisfaction.”