The battle against over-tourism has entered a new era.
After being closed to tourism for 2.5 years, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is set to re-open to tourists on Friday, but with a small catch: you will now be charged a $200 fee for every day that you spend visiting the Land of the Thunder Dragon.
In pre-pandemic times, Bhutan had been charging almost all tourists $250 per day, but technically just $65 per day of that was the actual tourism fee; the rest of what you paid was applied against your lodging, food, transportation, and other direct costs, cushioning the impact of the high fee, and making travel to the country somewhat expensive, but not prohibitive.
Not anymore: the new $200 fee is now levied exclusively to control tourism and make it more sustainable; none of that fee can now be applied to your actual travel costs. Now you will have to pay out-of-pocket for all your food, lodging, guides and whatever else you need; the $200-per-day fee is just for permission to be there. Nationals of neighboring India do get a break, though: the fee for them is now just $16 per day (previously, Indian nationals had been exempt from the pre-pandemic $250-per-day fee).
Lots more here: Nikkei Asia: Bhutan reopens with $200 tourist tax in test for sustainable travel
Gulp.