From May 2020 to April 2024, GrAT implemented the EU SWITCH-Asia project in Bhutan, entitled “Sustainable Hospitality Industry Inclusive of Native Entrepreneurs (SHINE)” with 1.6 Million Euros fund from  the European Union (https://www.switch-asia.eu/), in partnership with BAOWE, HAB, and Stenum Asia in India. For more information on the project, please contact us (shine@grat.at).  

 

Whereas tourism is the second biggest revenue earner in the country, there is a severe imbalance of economic gain. The three cities – Thimphu, Paro and Punakha – hold 65.9% of the Tourism share, all the six eastern provinces combined receive only 2.3% of the tourism influx and the corresponding value (Tourism Council of Bhutan, “Tourism monitor 2017”). These tourism hotspots were found to reach their carrying capacity with overcrowd (before the pandemic), whereas rural populations remained up to ten times more impoverished than those in urban areas, resulting in a significant migration to cities. The SHINE project aimed to address this imbalanced development, by supporting rural producers and hospitality service providers in the eastern districts to improve their production and service quality, as well as promoting those alternative destinations.

 

The overall objective of the SHINE project was to contribute to sustainable and inclusive tourism development in Bhutan with improved regional spread of the tourism activities and to create income generation for the majority of rural poor to mitigate the urban migration trend in a long term.

Two reciprocal strategies were adopted as specific objectives:

• To promote the worthy tourism destinations and resources in rural Bhutan towards tourists and achieve a fair distribution of sustainable tourism value (“Bring tourists to where the products are made”)
• To enable indigenous entrepreneurs of agro- and handicraft-products to generate sustainable income by participating in the tourism supply chain (“Bring the products to where tourists are”)

Target groups/Beneficiaries

Tourism MSMEs (hotels, resorts, home/farm-stays enterprises and restaurants), rural producers/cooperatives/groups (farmers, agri-food processing industries, handicraft industries), national/provincial public authorities, vocational training institutes for hospitality/agri-food processing and product design, inter/national tourists, and tour operators and guides were target groups and/or final beneficiaries of the SHINE project. Cooperation between stakeholders along the tourism value chain was encouraged and strengthened. 

Promote rural tourism products Target districts’ tourism resources were examined and stakeholders were consulted, resulting in the Toursim Attraction Books. Tour operators and guides were encouraged to promote alternative destinations in eastern districts.

Introduce local products to the tourism The Regional Food Programme was established to promote indigenous cuisine and to demonstrate the availability of domestic resources. The SHINE e-commerce website and a mobile connects producers and buyers. A training course was also offered.

Improve production of agro products and handicrafts Based on the observations and interactions with the final beneficiaries, specific technical needs were identified. A few Appropriate Technology solutions were developed, tested and implemented: a food dehydrator and a potter’s kiln were built; improved production methods for wood surface treatment, alcohol beverage distillation were studied; and better food packaging and labelling were proposed.

New products and services Training programmes were organized to educate selected producers, including the design thinking & skill training for craftspeople, the food processing and preservation training, and the cooking training for hospitality service providers. The capacity building programme resulted in a number of new handicraft products, increased income, improved quality, diversified product types, and more employment. New agricultural products, such as fermented chilli paste, flavoured whey drink and rice ara, were introduced. Throughout the project, cooperations and interlinkages were made with multiple associations and governmental bodies, as well as between producer groups.