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Haa – The Western Frontier

Officials from the The Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) will visit Haa next week to discuss a proposal submitted by the representatives of the people of Haa to develop tourism in their dzongkhag.

The move came after the Dzongkhag Yargye Tshogdu (DYT) discussed and pointed out the lack of tourism activities in Haa to the TCB officials. Haa town’s DYT representative, Tshering Pemba, said that the dzongkhag’s festivals, sacred places and historical sites were not registered with the TCB, which meant no tourist visits the dzongkhag.

A draft on the product list and other tourism development activities was submitted to the Tourism Council during the DYT. One of the activities proposed to attract tourist was to introduce a ropeway. Others included day trekking, hosting the next Bhutan Folk Festival and making Haa a free route permit zone like Paro, Phuentsholing and Thimphu.

Research officer of the TCB, Damcho Rinzin said, “Haa is a good trekking destination. It has many possibilities of day hikes and trekking routes, ranging from a few to many days.”

He said that, compared to many other dzongkhags, Haa is doing well as far as the TCB is concerned. “One of the constraints, seen both by the tourism industry and people of Haa, is the restriction of tourism operations in some parts of the district.”

“The people of Haa wants to develop tourism, but their knowledge of tourism development and tourism is very limited,” said Damcho Rinzin. He said that they have to first understand the tourism policy. “TCB is a regulatory body and it can only give technical support.”

The Nub Tsona Pata trek introduced in 2002 by TCB is the only registered trekking route in Haa, besides a few others used by private tour operators.

Last year in August a team from TCB had visited Haa to update and collect more information for the tourism resources inventory.

 

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>> Original story by Kuensel

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