Abstract
This chapter analyses the current situation of tourism in Bhutan and discusses the opportunities and challenges of ecotourism in this country. It combines Bhutan’s tourist data, the current tourism policy of the Bhutanese government and the government’s measures for culture and environmental protection, exploring the potential development methods to improve and maintain the sustainability of Bhutan’s natural and cultural environment by enhancing its ecotourism industry. Furthermore, it also enumerates the adverse effects of over-exploration of tourism in other cities such as Nepal with respect to the importance of ecotourism. A multi-layered qualitative research methodology was conducted to determine whether citizens and visitors are in favour of ecotourism activities that might benefit local communities and cultures. It can be concluded that the development of ecotourism is conducive to improving and maintaining the sustainability of Bhutan’s natural and cultural environment. Finally, this research ends by providing key recommendations to promote the development of ecotourism to protect Bhutanese people and the country’s Gross National Happiness.
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Azzali, S., Qingyao, H., Tianhui, S., Xinyi, L., Qifeng, J. (2021). Ecotourism Industry in Constrained Environments: Bhutan as a Case Study. In: Azzali, S., Thirumaran, K. (eds) Tropical Constrained Environments and Sustainable Adaptations. Managing the Asian Century. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4631-4_6
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