Bhutan Slashes Sustainable Fee by Half to Jumpstart Tourism Recovery

In the run-up to ITB China, DidaTravel shares impressive year-to-date China growth data, both inbound and outbound. §  DidaTravel outperforms the market with remarkable +40% growth[1] in China outbound hotel bookings year-to-date vs. 2019’s pre-pandemic figures (and +292% growth comparing the same period 2022). §  Meanwhile the company is registering +124% inbound growth in hotel bookings into China, year-to-date Vs. 2019. §  DidaTravel will be exhibiting at ITB China, stand H23.

For anyone heading to Indian Ocean beaches from colder climates, the region’s warm waters have an obvious appeal. But with sea levels rising faster here on average than in the Atlantic and Pacific, many of those beaches are at risk of being claimed by the tides — threatening the natural habitats and livelihoods of people living in coastal areas. This is a global problem, of course: sea levels worldwide have risen around 10cm in the past 30 years, with the rate increasing from 1.5mm a year through most of the 20th century to 3.9mm a year now. Projections for future sea level rises vary greatly, but when you’re in the Maldives, whose highest points rise to just over two metres above sea level, every centimetre counts.

Bhutan will cut its daily visitor fee in half in an effort to attract more travelers.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, August 30. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is set to reduce its $200 daily tourist fee by half, Reuters reported. The reason? The famously isolationist country, a mountainous sanctuary landlocked between behemoths China and India, is struggling to revitalize its tourism sector a year after dropping its pandemic-related restrictions.

US and UK saw respective deal volume reducing to almost half; China emerges as notable exception.

Having started as a mom-and-pop travel agency, EaseMyTrip today figures among the largest online travel agencies (OTA) in India with a market capitalization of $1.1 billion while being completely bootstrapped.

India plans to promote green tourism, open up to 50 new tourism destinations, and launch a publicity campaign in overseas markets during its presidency of the G20 this year, officials said.

Oyo, which advertises itself online as “India’s Best Online Hotel Booking Site for Sanitized Stays,” said it is performing well in the U.S. — after de-emphasizing its U.S. presence during the height of the pandemic.

Setting a new “gold standard” for travel, Bhutan is now offering duty-free gold to visitors, who may have been discouraged to visit the destination due to the high sustainable tourism fee.

Destinations throughout Africa are optimistic about getting a major tourism boost from China’s reopening to international travel.

Oyo disclosed on Friday that it is reducing the size of its proposed initial public offering to between $400-$600 million, a steep reduction from its plan to value the offering at $1.1 billion, a source close to the company told Skift. Oyo pre-filed its draft red herring prospectus on Friday with the Indian stock market.