Thimphu, March 16: There’s one more reason to visit Bhutan – you can buy duty free gold!
To be eligible to buy, visitors should have paid the daily sustainable development fee (SDF) and spent at least a night in a government approved tourist standard accommodation.
Under the scheme, announced on March 1, a person can buy a maximum of 20 grams of gold, to be paid for in hard currency, from outlets in Thimphu, the capital, and in the border town of Phuentsholing, the main road entry point with India.
Bhutan opened its borders in September last year after a two year lull with a revised tourism policy that levies SDF of USD 200 a night for visitors and INR,1200 a night for visitors from India.
Numbers are yet to pick up. Less than 17,000 visited last year. Visitors from India were the largest group with more than 8,000 who paid the SDF of INR 1,200 a night. Visitors paying the USD 200 a night were a little more than 3,000 and the rest were visitors who had booked under the previous SDF of USD 65 a day but were unable to visit because of the pandemic.
The gold scheme is expected to attract visitors from the region, particularly from India, which is globally among the biggest purchasers of gold. As of now Indians go to Dubai to buy gold where it is relatively cheaper.