Shanley Mitchell

BHU TA N NAT IO N B R A N D I N G Written and Photographed by SHA NL EY M I T C HEL L

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TABLE OF

INTR ODU C TI O N

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BACKGROUND Gross National Happiness Driglam Namzha Tourism

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NATION BRANDING Technical Economic Approaches Political Approaches Cultural Approaches Future Brand

CONTENTS

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DATA FROM RESEARCH Methodology Branding Influencing Values Values Influencing Behaviors Future Brand

CONCLUSION

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ABSTRACT

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Bhutan, a symbolic Shangri-La, f irst opened its doors to tourism in 1974.

Since then, the tourism industry has grown to become one of the largest contributors to the country’s GDP, and is coined as a “high value, low impact” industry. In order to compete in the global marketplace, Bhutan sought to brand a uniform image of the country that displays its policies surrounding Gross National Happiness (GNH), vibrant cultural heritage, and a ‘pristine’ environment. This study focuses on analyzing how Bhutan’s nation branding affects the way tourists comprehend and interact with the country’s natural and constructed environments. It addresses two fundamental questions. How do Bhutan’s nation branding efforts help maintain a ‘high value, low impact’ tourism industry? Can marketing Bhutan’s environment as “pristine” inf luence behaviors that help preserve it? This study drew preliminary connections between religion, branding, tourist values, and environmental behaviors. This research shows that, while incomplete as a comprehensive development strategy, nation branding has been successful in both attracting tourists to Bhutan and inf luencing their behavior while in the country with the majority of tourists interviewed citing environmental conservation and GNH as the most critical issues Bhutan is addressing. Indications of success within this approach not only offer further opportunities for Bhutan to pursue sustainable development, but also serve as a model for the rest of the world which demonstrates the possibility to meet the material needs of human civilization without sacrif icing ecological health.

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INTRODUCTION

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Bhutan is a small Buddhist country nestled in the eastern edge of the Himalayas between China and India. Throughout its history, Bhutan has never been colonized and remained actively isolated from surrounding countries for centuries in order to avoid foreign inf luences and to protect its culture and environment. The majority of Bhutan’s population of 750,000 follow Vajrayana Buddhism. This sect of Buddhism was f irst introduced by the Indian Tantric master Guru Padmasambhava in the 8th century. Until then, Bhutanese people practiced Bonism, a religion that worshipped all forms of nature. Remnants of this tradition are still evident. Along with its ancient ties to Buddhism, Bhutan is known for its progressive approach to conservation and its policies surrounding Gross National Happiness (GNH). Although coined by His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck in the early 1970’s, an emphasis on the government’s role in its citizens’ happiness was not a new concept.

The Tsa Yig Chenmo, an ancient legal code created by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in 1629, stated that, “if the government cannot create happiness for its people, then there is no purpose for government to exist” (Givel 2014) The code stressed that Bhutanese laws must promote happiness for all sentient beings – forming the foundation for the various expressions of compassion embodied in the modern Buddhist nation. The guiding principles in Bhutan’s founding were never focused on growth-centric economic progress for the country, but emphasized “a f lourishing human society living in harmony with nature” (GNH Centre Bhutan, 2018) In 2016, I spent a semester studying at The Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environmental Research in Bhutan. I was inspired by how Bhutan has continued to prioritize policies of GNH and environmental conservation despite becoming a sought-after

tourist destination since the late 1970’s. I questioned whether Bhutan’s prominent nation branding efforts marketed towards tourists could inf luence their values and behaviors while encountering and interacting with Bhutan’s environment and culture. I was able to begin addressing these questions during my independent research while studying in the country.

Through my research, I found connections between Buddhist religion and nation branding in Bhutan that conveyed visible impacts on tourists’ behaviors. Understanding how Bhutan’s strategic branding inf luenced the way tourists value and behave within the country’s environment gave new perspective into the power that marketing holds over human behavior, especially evident in the context of conservation. As far as the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environmental Research acknowledges, tourists and their tour guides have never been interviewed in a way that illuminates the relationship between how Bhutan markets itself, and the way tourists and people within the tourism industry view or treat the environment. If this research reveals that marketing Bhutan’s environment as “pristine” actually creates behaviors that contribute to its preservation, it could help the tourism industry continue to disseminate marketing campaigns that inf luence more environmentally friendly behaviors that keep tourism in Bhutan “high value, low impact.”

On a larger scale, understanding the power of nation branding over foreigners perceptions and behaviors within Bhutan can provide valuable insight for international approaches to conservation. Through both the accounts of tourists and the lens of GNH, this research explores alternative forms of policy-making that are geared towards protecting our planet and combating climate change.

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BACKGROUND We are immersed in the era of the Anthropocene. The future of our planet and the life it sustains is now primarily governed by human activity. Extreme overconsumption has depleted and degraded resources at alarming rates. Climate change, the product of our f ixation on perpetual economic growth, is an issue that is currently and will continue to transform all facets of the world we perceive. The solutions to these crises lie in conceptualizing alternatives to the way our societies function, consume and govern. It is diff icult to imagine our modern society without the extractive economies that shape the core elements of our culture and society. The Western imagination is steeped in the discourse of neoliberalism which renders a zero growth, or even low growth, economy as unthinkable. In this model, corporations are granted legal personhood and the “free” market is allowed to grow without limit at rates that threatens the long term security of the natural resources upon which all wealth is built. Considering the psychological health indicators in the ‘Global North,’ it is diff icult to claim a strong positive correlation between GDP and human happiness. Bhutan’s policy of Gross National Happiness (GNH) aims to reimagine the guiding principles of human culture, directly addressing these challenges by providing an ethical and sustainable approach to development. The measurement of Gross National Happiness focuses on the non-material roots of wellbeing and offers policies to balance the multifaceted needs of humans in modern society within the limits of what nature can sustainably provide.

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GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS In order to begin measuring happiness, the GNH framework is broken down into the following four pillars: 1. GOOD GOVERNANCE 2. SUSTAINABLE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 3. PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION OF CULTURE 4. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION According to Bhutan’s GNH Center, good governance is considered a pillar for happiness because it determines the conditions in which Bhutanese citizens thrive. Bhutan’s policies aim to promote the ethos of GNH, and there are a number processes in place to ensure the values of GNH are embedded in social policy. The GNH center explains that sustainable socio-economic development needs to be prioritized because a thriving economy must value the social, as well as the economic, contributions of households and families. It also must factor in free time and leisure, given the huge impact free time and social bonds have on one’s happiness. Cultural traditions also play a key role in promoting happiness, so the GNH center puts emphasis on developing cultural resilience. The center generally def ines “cultural resilience” as a culture’s capacity to maintain and develop a cultural identity, enhance traditional knowledge and practices, and overcome challenges from the inf luence of external norms and ideals. Lastly, environmental health is considered a key contributor to GNH because in addition to providing critical resources, a deep connection to the environment is believed to have a signif icant impact on overall wellbeing. (GNH Centre Bhutan, 2018)

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The four pillars are further expanded into nine domains.

The following domains distinguish the different elements of GNH in detail to form the basis of GNH screening methods: 1. Living standards 2. Education 3. Health 4. Environment 5. Community Vitality 6. Time-use 7. Psychological well-being 8. Good Governance 06

9. Cultural resilience and promotion These 9 domains attempt to acknowledge the many interrelated factors that are essential in creating the conditions for happiness.

For example, the GNH framework considers the importance of material security as a pillar of human happiness that is intimately connected with the wellbeing of other life forms, ecological diversity, and environmental resilience. The balance between material and non-material development, and the multidimensional and interdependent nature of GNH distinguish GNH from GDP as a measure of a country’s progress and reveal different core values and goals. In accordance with these 9 domains, Bhutan has developed 38 sub-indexes, 72 indicators and 151 variables that are used to def ine and analyze the happiness of the Bhutanese people (GNH Centre Bhutan, 2018). This effort to promote comprehensive wellbeing has enabled Bhutan to build sustainability directly into its national identity. The constitution requires that 60% of its landmass be maintained and protected as forest. Currently, Bhutan has approximately 72% forest cover (Temphel, 2016).

The effort to mainstream environmental stewardship into the national consciousness

strengthens (and is strengthened by) the Buddhist traditions in the region, representing a space where theory meets practice. Diverging from Western belief systems that place humans and human life at the center of cosmology, Buddhism emphasizes the importance of balance with human and non-human life.

Sentientism is not conf ined to the human body and plants and animals are often respected as non-human persons. Research explores the integration of Tsethar, a Vajrayana practice designed to liberate non-human life from suffering and death in Bhutan, which is partially responsible for inf luencing societal norms and reducing consumption of meat. Chophel et. al (2012) claims that meat consumption in Bhutan (roughly 3 kilograms per capita) is lower than rates in poorer countries such as Nepal. They identify the Livestock Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan 2001 as an example of the government’s commitment to ensuring the wellbeing of non-human life which guarantees certain rights to livestock (Chophel et al, 2012). Concern for livestock also extends to wild animals and landscapes, where Bhutan is a leader in the development of low impact run of river dams which serve the energy needs of humans while also protecting the health of vital watersheds and forests.

Recent partnerships with organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) demonstrate Bhutan’s success in protecting wildlife. These partnerships put Bhutan’s GNH efforts into practice in an innovative “Bhutan for Life” funding mechanism where compensation and insurance programs for rural communities are funded by revenues from eco-tourism. These programs allow farmers to recover losses from predators such as snow leopards while ensuring the wellbeing of all forms of life (WWF, 2018).

Bhutan’s environmental policies and efforts to institutionalize happiness as the guiding metric of the country’s developmental success serve as reference points towards how the legacy of Buddhism in the country and the wider region materialize in the modern nation state.

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DRIGLAM NAMZHA Part of Bhutan’s efforts to preserve Bhutanese culture is through Driglam Namzha. Driglam Namzha is often described as Bhutan’s code of etiquette. The word Drig roughly translates to: order, norm and conformity. Thus, the general meaning of driglam is: the way of maintaining order whereas namzha translates to: a concept or system. In this context, Driglam Namzha is a system of standards and rules that constitute ordered and cultured behaviour. This system incorporates zacha drosum, which refers to physical manners and behaviours such as the ways in which one walks and eats. This system also creates strict rules around how to behave and dress properly in Bhutanese society. These rules originated in monastic codes of discipline in the Vinaya, an ancient Buddhist scripture.

This exemplif ies the fact that in Bhutan, the way one should behave in society and towards the environment is largely def ined by Buddhist ethics. With the spread of Buddhism through the Himalayas, Driglam Namzha became a formal code of conduct in most monasteries and courts. In Bhutan, institutional

implementation of Driglam Namzha started with the unif ier of Bhutan– Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651).

Today the Bhutanese state has further promoted Driglam Namzha as a vessel of Bhutanese national identity. After several years of deliberation, the parliament passed resolutions ensuring the preservation and promotion of Driglam Namzha to counteract the ‘invasion’ of Western culture as the number of tourists continued to increase. As Bhutan slowly opened its doors to tourism and the international community, the concern about the decline of Bhutanese customs grew and off icials felt the pressure to reinstate and strengthen Driglam Namzha.

On January 16th, 1989, the royal decree was issued proclaiming the need to promote this traditional system through policies such as a national dress code (ghos for men and kiras for women), and the designation of Dzongkha as the national language (Dorji 1994: 86).

This was passed before the introduction

and legalization of televisions in 1999, facilitating the enforcement of Driglam Namzha as a foundation of national identity.

Convergence around this national aesthetic minimize some of the threats to cultural preservation presented by the introduction of Western ideals into the homes of Bhutanese citizens through the TV. Based on personal observations while in Bhutan, younger generations, especially those living in close proximity to the cities of Thimpu or Paro, do not always comply with Driglam Namzha.

In comparison, older generations and individuals who live in rural regions tend to adhere more closely to traditional customs and wear their national dress daily.

Driglam Namzha has been criticized by international human rights activists as an imposition of mainstream Bhutanese culture on minority groups. When Ddzongkha was designated as the off icial language and all schools started teaching English, it became more diff icult for minority groups

to maintain and pass on the 19 other living languages spoken within the country. Not long ago, there were 22 spoken languages in Bhutan. Lost languages are not the only price of these policies, and other cultural contributions of minority groups are often erased from the national narrative. This is discussed further in the “Nation Branding” analysis below in the context of the exile of thousands of ethnically Nepalese people from Bhutan in the late 20th century. While the imposition of a national code of ethics such as Driglam Namzha can help to preserve certain elements of cultural legacy, this approach can also become oppressive when implemented in a totalitarian manner that values homogeneity above diversity. These losses illuminate both the practical shortcomings of GNH as a value system and the costs associated with strategies of cultural preservation that do not adequately value the contributions of minority groups.

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TOURISM

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One of the ways the country aims to maintain their current status as the only carbon negative country in the world while simultaneously protecting their traditions is by implementing controlled tourism practices. Bhutan f irst opened its doors to tourism in 1974, not long after Gross National Happiness was promoted as the guiding framework for national development (Dorji, 2001). The creation of GNH rooted in sustainable growth within natural limits set the foundation for the management of tourism. In the beginning, the tourism industry was controlled exclusively by the government’s Department of Tourism which sought to promote a “high value, low volume,” industry through the implementation of a high daily tariff. The tariff successfully brought revenue into the country while limiting the number of tourists.

By the late 1980s, the number of tourists in Bhutan continued to rise despite the high fee.

The Government combated this growth by raising the tariff to $250 per day during the tshechu season. Tshechus are annual religious festivals held in each district of Bhutan. Not long after the tariff increase, the Bhutanese government decided to privatize the tourism industry, allowing tour companies to open up in place of the government’s Department of Tourism starting in 1991. Full privatization started eight years later in 1999 (Dorji, 2001).

Once fully privatized, the tourism sector maintained the tariff but removed limits on the number of tourism companies that were permitted to begin operating. This allowed companies both directly and indirectly dependent on tourism to expand rapidly.

As the tourism industry grew increasingly competitive, companies were incentivized to

market or “brand” Bhutan to the international eye and attract potential tourists. Marketing Bhutan as a “pristine,” protected culture and environment attracted an increased numbers of tourists; which generated increased motivation and f inancial opportunity to protect the country’s culture and environment. This has been a powerful economic tool for the country, which has struggled to maintain f inancial stability over the past several decades. Bhutan is a net importer of most goods, and has recently experienced a debt-driven spending boom that has led banks to crack down on cheap credit.

Youth employment has surged to 9.2 percent as many teenagers are abandoning farming for urban life. The government seeks to cut the number of people living below the poverty line to 15 percent of the population from its current 23 percent, according to its own f igures (Planning Commission Secretariat, 1999).

Expanding tourism has the potential to greatly expand cash inf low to the country, but the government is committed to its longstanding policy of limiting visitor numbers by accepting only those who pay $250 per day in advance of arrival in Bhutan. “Bhutan will never be a mass destination,” said Chhimmy Pem, head of marketing at the Tourism Council of Bhutan (formerly the Department of Tourism) which implements the government’s tourism policy. “Our target will always be the high end visitors.” After paying for accommodation, travel, food and a guide, $65 of that $250 goes to the government. The policy was adopted, in part, to prevent tourism from destroying Bhutan’s unique Buddhist culture and traditions, although some politicians say protection from the outside world is no longer needed.

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“Tourism was a real threat in the past, but that threat has gone,” Tshering Tobgay, head of main opposition group, the People’s Democratic Party, told Reuters in an article published in 2012. An increasingly consumerist Bhutanese society, he said, is changing regardless of the inf luence of sightseers. “It is us Bhutanese ourselves who are now putting our traditions and culture at risk” (Goldsmith, 2012).

A young woman I met during a day of interviews near Paro explained that although Bhutan has never been colonized, they are being digitally colonized by western consumerist culture.

With the rise of internet and television in Bhutan, more and more young people want to live in city centers like Thimpu and Paro, but these cities do not have the infrastructure to accommodate the inf lux of urban to rural migration. These same young people often

f ind jobs in the tourism industry in more populated areas of the country. When Bhutan introduced the “high impact, low volume” tourism policy in 1974, only 300 tourists visited. Today Bhutan welcomes around 58,000 people annually. In comparison, as many as 729,550 tourists visited Bhutan’s neighbor, Nepal, in 2016 (Nepal Tourism Statistics, 2016).

The 2013 Bhutan Tourism Monitor estimates the total tourism contribution to GDP at roughly US $220 million. This represents more than 10% of Bhutan’s total GDP, second to only the electricity sector in terms of sectors contributing the most to GDP. The report states that it is likely that the indirect benef its of tourism, which are not fully accounted for in the monitor, could be double the direct revenues from the sector (Tourism Council of Bhutan, 2014). The Tourism Council also estimates that over 20,000 jobs have been generated by the sector since privatization in

1991. In 2016, the Tourism Council reported that US $20.28 million (roughly 30% of total earnings) went to the government to fund programs such as poverty alleviation and environmental conservation (Tourism Council of Bhutan, 2016). This has led to success in reducing the poverty rate in the country from 47% in 1981 to 3% in 2011. Growth in tourism throughout the decade has also helped to balance exchange rates and stabilize the economy by bring foreign currency into the country. This serves as a critical f inancial resource as India f inances roughly 25% of Bhutan’s total budget, generating signif icant debt obligations (World Bank, 2014). In contrast to both Nepal and India, where backpackers seeking to live on a few dollars a day are welcomed, luxury resorts are more representative of Bhutan’s style.

This attracts celebrities including Leonardo diCaprio, Cameron Diaz, and Jack Nicholson, who can go almost unnoticed in the country.

The national airline Drukair is the only

airline which f lies to Bhutan, with planes traditionally leaving from Nepal, India and Thailand. Recently, Drukair added another Indian route, and started offering f lights from Singapore. This was an effort seeking to build a year-round tourism business, Sonam said, rather than relying on spikes in tourism during major religious festivals in spring and autumn.

At off-season times, many hotels are empty and businesses activity dwindles. Still, foreign travel agents say Bhutan should be wary of switching to an open-door policy.

“Bhutan still has that mystical appeal, and it would be very sad if it compromised the policy that was designed to stop it making the same mistakes as its neighbors,” said travel agent Charlotte Lawson from Britain’s Steppes Travel, which specializes in luxury and custom trips. “It is an extraordinarily special place and should stay so” (Goldsmith, 2012).

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NATION BRANDING GNH and Driglam Namzha are two ways that Bhutan implements institutionalized nation branding. Nation branding can be understood as “a compendium of discourses and practices aimed at reconstituting nationhood through marketing and branding paradigms,” indicating an active effort on the part of off icials and thought leaders required to reshape the image of the nation (Risen, 2005). Taking this understanding and aligning it with Bhutan’s strategy, nation branding can also be def ined as “a process by which a nation’s images can be created, monitored, evaluated and proactively managed in order to improve or enhance the country’s reputation among a target international audience” (Fan, 2009). These def initions manifest practically in several forms, spanning from surface level or exterior branding such as the creation of national slogans, logos, and color palettes to “institutionalized branding within state structures by creating governmental and pseudo-governmental bodies that oversee longterm nation branding efforts” (Kaneva, 2009).

There are multiple ways that scholars approach nation branding. A few of these approaches include: technical-economic approaches, political approaches, and cultural approaches.

TECHNICAL-ECONOMIC APPROACHES Technical-economic approaches are studies that are typically written by marketing scholars who understand that designing a strategic and unif ied brand has the power to give a country a competitive upper hand within the global marketplace (Calabrese, 1999; Habermas, 2001).

A guiding rationale within this perspective holds that the differences between the methods used while branding a country, and the techniques used while branding a corporation are indecipherable. The decisions of individuals in the tourism market can be “motivated and inspired and manipulated” by countries employing the same tactics that companies use to brand and sell products (Aronczyk, 2008).

POLITICAL APPROACHES Political approaches, on the other hand, claim that, “By managing their reputations strategically, nations can advance their interests in the international arena” (Wang, 2008).

Scholars taking this approach see branding as a new form of nationalism that disseminates national values through projections of a collective identity (Anholt, 2008). Many argue this type of strategy is a critical component of nation building where “it is a nation or leader’s image and control of information f lows, and not just their military and economic power, that help determine their status in the international community” (Gilboa, 2001).

CULTURAL APPROACHES Scholars taking a cultural approach argue that nation branding reproduces and enhances stereotypes to international communities.

(Widler, 2007) This plays out dramatically within tourism advertising because the industry has a tendency to reproduce stereotypical representations exclusively for the purpose of selling them to Western audiences (Hasseler, 2008). Nation branding can also be analyzed as an ideological project that constructs commercialized values of a country’s landscape and nationhood in relation to neoliberalism.

(Volcic, 2009). In other words, branding not only explains nations to the world, but also reinterprets national identity in market terms and provides new narratives for international consumption and behavior (Kaneva, 2011).

Research presented in this analysis shows that there are important linkages between the way a country brands itself, and the way foreign tourists perceive and behave within the branded country. This research draws from all three of these frameworks and identif ies elements of each present in Bhutan’s nation branding efforts over time.

These frameworks will be explored further in the following case study on the role of external consultants in this process, revealing the dominance of the technical-economic branding strategy in Bhutan’s current approach.

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FUTUREBRAND

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In 2014, New York based FutureBrand partnered with the Bhutanese Department of Trade and the United Nations Development Program to embark on an extensive program to develop the ‘Made In Bhutan’ or ‘Brand Bhutan’ strategy and create (as Future Brand describes it) a unif ied country brand for Bhutan. This ‘brand’ aims to reach across all sectors and industries in the future, particularly for sectors that support Bhutan’s sustainable and long-term growth plans in areas such as handicrafts, organic farming, and tourism.

The goal was to amplify the ethos of Gross National Happiness, and to “capture the spirit of the country, its people and way of life” (Future Brand, 2014). FutureBrand was hired to tell a compelling story for Bhutan and its products and services in an increasingly competitive global market. They explain in the ‘challenge’ section of the project brief that although the landscape is beautiful with a distinct culture, Bhutan itself is not widely known as a tourist destination nor an expert producer in any specif ic industry. They explain that even though Bhutan’s economy and skilled workforce is developing, the small size of the population and limited resources mean that Bhutan is unable to fully capture benef its from economies of scale. FutureBrand also claims, “[Bhutan’s] lack of infrastructure – plus the intense competition from neighboring countries offering conventional agriculture and cheaper imports – means competing nations are managing to offer their ‘uniqueness’ more eff iciently and cheaply.” They highlight Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index by saying “for generations, Bhutan has acted for the greater good of its people, placing spiritual values at the core of its very existence.”

Holding with the commitment of Bhutan to promote comprehensive wellbeing in the country, “Brand Bhutan is designed to capture the spirit of the country, its people and way of life.” In telling the story of Brand Bhutan, FutureBrand argues that “everything crafted in Bhutan comes from the country’s pristine nature, timeless traditions and enduring values” (Future Brand, 2014). These quotes from the project brief are great examples of

how key ideals and language such as “pristine nature” and “timeless traditions” infuse into the way Bhutan frames itself. FutureBrand claims that country brands matter because branding is a vital element in both domestic and international affairs. The f irm argues that “the difference between a successful, welldef ined and consistent brand and a weaker, murkier one can have impact on a country’s ability to attract investment, expand tourism, and promote domestic conf idence and social unity. A well-def ined association around origin and nationality can also become a hallmark of quality in the long-term” (Future Brand, 2014). FutureBrand believes that in order to be successful, Brand Bhutan must be more than a logo – it must be grounded in a robust and rigorous strategy that ref lects the values of Bhutanese society, history, and GNH philosophy. Brand Bhutan must drive consumer choice and align with the nation’s strategies and ambitions. At the conclusion of the immersion and analysis phase, FutureBrand concluded that, in order for Brand Bhutan to be determined successful, the brand must: 1. Promote Bhutan to the outside world; 2. Increase demand for Bhutanese products and services; 3. Ensure consensus and participation across government departments, the private sector and civil society; 4. Converge on an implementable strategy that is easy to monitor and manage; 5. Enhance exports while working across sectors; 6. Create local demand to use and leverage the new brand; 7. Establish a logo, tagline, and set of guidelines that all stakeholders can understand and leverage.

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FutureBrand’s f inal insights for the development of Brand Bhutan recommend aligning Brand Bhutan with the strategy of the nation. The f irm concludes that Brand Bhutan should be used as a platform for decision making, nation building, and crafting the most impactful experiences for consumers. This process should lead to a streamlined management of Bhutan’s entire portfolio of brands that f low into a unif ied and overarching country brand for Bhutan.

This consolidation can then be leveraged across all sectors and generate the conditions in which Bhutan is empowered to govern and further develop the brand. This will also allow the country to establish an effective plan that identif ies a clear way forward for the launch, implementation, and extended management of Brand Bhutan.

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While this approach to branding poses potential to attract tourists and further economic activity to Bhutan, there are signif icant limitations to adopting a focused branding approach as the cornerstone development strategy. Ideologies articulated in the branding process raise important questions that are not fully addressed by either party. How much of this language was developed by Bhutanese leaders themselves and how much came from this international design f irm? Is this brand guide a product of a western, orientalist gaze? Does this result in the commodif ication of Bhutanese culture for sale to an international market? Economic and social concerns identif ied in the background section of this analysis require a closer analysis of the inf luence of the tourism sector on other aspects of Bhutanese life and development.

The following sections will analyze the inf luence of this particular approach on values and behaviors of both tourists and Bhutanese people while challenging some of the assumptions and omissions made along the path to building Brand Bhutan.

VISUAL CONSUMPTION A large segment of tourism and the nation branding that fuels it is concerned with visual consumption of natural environments. The “tourist gaze” has proliferated tremendously in the past decades due to the expanding modes of transportation that give tourists

the means to consume distant environments (Urry,1990). Widespread construction of tourist attractions and concentrations of people into particular places has engendered a variety of transformations both within the physical environment and the ways in which people perceive and interact with it (Urry, 1990). The way people ‘read’ nature is something that is learned and changes over time and across cultures. Urry identif ies four main modes through which societies interact with their respective ‘physical environments’: stewardship of the land so as to provide a better legacy for future generations living within a given local area; exploitation of land or other resources through seeing nature as separate from society and available for its maximum instrumental appropriation; scientization through treating the environment as the object of scientif ic investigation subject a degree of intervention and regulation; and visual consumption through constructing the physical environment as a ‘landscape’ not primarily for production but embellished for aesthetic appropriation (Urry, 1990).

Tourism typically falls under the category of visual consumption. Much of tourism has become “a search for the photogenic,” which has further enhanced the development of tourism in areas where landscapes appearing visually and environmentally unpolluted can be viewed and captured (Sontag, 1979). Contraindications associated with the relationship between tourism and the environment are manifest in photographic representations with the camera serving as a tool to capture the ideal landscape while omitting ‘imperfections.’ Rampant urbanization and economic development around the world has transformed modern tourism by increasing the allure of particular kinds of unpolluted landscapes. As these spaces become increasingly removed from everyday life, the economic incentives and demand to protect or conserve such environments as valuable assets increases.

However, this cycle is also subject to negative feedback where an increasing number of visitors seeking to capture the views of a preserved landscape generates more traff ic, threatening the ‘untouched’ and ‘wild’ idealisms of the environments they wish to experience and preserve.

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PARTIAL PERSPECTIVES

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Nation branding efforts and careful control over the tourist experience seeks to silence narratives and spaces that do not satisfy the tourist gaze. A 2013 opinion piece published in the New York Times explores the f issures running through Bhutan’s image as a symbolic Shangri-La that tourists eagerly seek to experience. The focus on branding Bhutan to the (typically Western) outsider as an oriental paradise full of adventure and mystery has suppressed many troubling aspects of the branding process. In the process of producing a consistent image of Bhutan for an international market, policies were enacted to externalize the populations and cultures that did not f it this vision. South Asian analyses of nationalism, while often focused on countries such as India, offer insight into spracticed of nation building and nation branding in Bhutan. Himani Bannerji simarizes, “principles for the creation of a national community and animosity towards such enemy ‘others’ are located in an univocal mono-politic interpretation of religion, culture, tradition and community, and are articulated to the morality and identity of a constructed unif ied and collective subject.”

Speaking of Hindu nationalism in India, he argues, “ethnic nationalists rewrite or invent histories, substituting history and actual social relations with ‘traditions’” to justify “expulsions of peoples, their displacements, armed occupations, pogroms, concentration camps and state terrorism” (Bannerji, 2006).

While specif ic to India in several key ways, this understanding of the modern nation state as a product of popular narratives around identity and cultural authenticity are relevant when analyzing the forms of nationalism present in Bhutan. Several of Bannerji’s insights on nationalism materialize in the expulsion of over 100,000 people, primarily of Nepalese origin, from Bhutan in the 1980’s concurrent with the process of nation branding. The darker sides to Bhutan’s self-identif ication as a modern day Shangri La emerge in the context of this forced homogenization through the enforcement of norms such as the Driglam Namzha. These intricacies and unsavory parts

of Brand Bhutan are not marketed and often pushed to the peripheries of the tourist gaze.

When tourists in this study were asked why they wanted to come to Bhutan, many of them mentioned an interest in GNH, the scenery and culture, and the fact that few tourists are able to visit Bhutan. They expressed a belief that Bhutan is a place that is unlike anywhere else in the world. Several tourists explained that they like to visit to places that they think are going to change quite fast in the future so that they can experience it before the transformation is complete. When questioned further about what they meant, they said that they think Bhutan is eventually going to become “Westernized” and they wanted to experience it before that happens. During the interviews, the researchers showed tourists ten photos of various landscapes in Bhutan.

Some of the photos had people in them, some had cameras in them, some photos only had photos of nature, and some of Dzongs.

A handful of the photos were pulled from websites advertising Bhutan. The other photos featured were taken by tourists while they were in Bhutan. This section of the research gives insight on the types of images tourists hope to see while in the country and the types of landscapes they value. I asked the tourists which photo looks most like the reason why they came to Bhutan and they overwhelmingly picked a photo of Tiger’s Nest, which happens to be the most heavily marketed image of Bhutan. The photos tourists typically disliked, were photos with evidence of humans in them, aside from farmers in a rice f ield. The humans or human evidence they preferred not to see in the images were other tourists or cameras.

This points to a potential unwillingness or disinterest on the part of the tourist to engage with persistent inequities that tourism is unable to remedy. Tourists can admire a beautiful landscape and turn a blind eye to the everyday challenges facing the populations that allow them the access to gaze upon their land without considering their livelihoods.

Tourist f ixation Bhutan’s “traditional” culture and protected landscape is revealed in their surprise at how “modern” Bhutan is.

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This type of surprise following discovery of ‘civilization’ that is familiar to an outsider reveals the assumptions clouding the tourist gaze that is f ixed on imagery that reinforces the “traditional and ancient” branding strategy. Edward Said alludes to the dangerous implications of this narrow perception in his writings on Orientalism, the process through which Western colonial norms and prejudices inf luence the perceptions of outsiders, distorting and often exaggerating the differences between themselves and the foreigners they encounter. While tourism has some potential to collapse the material and discursive distance between foreign cultures, it can also reinforce long term notions of ethnic and civilizational superiority the West holds over ‘the rest.’ This legacy and the limitation of Western representation of ‘the Other’ are explored in Fernando Coronil’s “Beyond Occidentalism.” Drawing on other postcolonial thinkers such as Frantz Fanon, Coronil challenges the anchoring of identity in an imagined and romanticized ‘tradition’ which produces “partial perspectives.” He draws on Said’s “Orientalism” to def ine what he calls “Occidentalism,” def ined as “the ensemble of representational practices that participate in the production of conceptions of the world, which separate the world’s components into bounded units; disaggregate their relational histories; turn difference into hierarchy, naturalize these representations; and thus intervene, however unwittingly, in the reproduction of existing asymmetrical power relations” (Coronil, 57).

While Bhutan was never colonized in the ways its neighbors were, it is a subject to the modern vestiges of colonial ideologies that continue to inform tourist perceptions and behaviors while travelling in the “Global South”. In Bhutan’s mission to brand themselves as an oriental paradise, many opportunities to foster reciprocal cultural exchange and reduce neo-colonial legacies of Western exploitation of Eastern cultures and landscapes are lost.

Instead, Bhutanese leaders chose to capitalize on, and market, existing pr1ejudices and “partial perspectives” of the reality of life in a relatively isolated South Asian country that do not fully address asymmetrical power relations and inequalities between the tourists and the Bhutanese. Tourism is a critical resource

for Bhutan that can be leveraged to pursue innovative environmental policy and mitigate pressing issues such as poverty, but it is not a panacea to all of the challenges facing the country and must be observed from several angles.

TOURISM, CONSERVATION, AND DESTINATION IMAGE While limited when adopted as a one-sided development strategy, mass tourism has helped to amplify concern for the environment in several ways. First, tourism has enabled access to a much wider range of environments than were accessible before (Urry, 1990). With the rise of the internet, people are increasingly equipped with the tools required to compare different landscapes to one another, increasing the need for nation branding. Urry explains, “Images of appropriate environments can now be much more readily conjured up, evaluated and compared, often through people’s own photographs or through programs seen on the TV or Internet.” The interest in the ‘natural’ environment and the growth of tourism both derive from the increased f ixation on visual consumption in modern Western society.

Individuals increasingly make decisions based on an aesthetic judgment rather than on a foundation of reason and discourse (Lash, 1990). The romantic tourist gaze feeds into and supports attempts to protect the environment, forming a positive feedback loop. Sone analysis argues, “It is because of tourism that many national parks have been created and without them many animal and plant species would have disappeared” (Hamilton, 1990). This supports theories asserting that tourists affect conservation policies by exerting indirect pressure to protect the environment for visual consumption. This phenomenon can be def ined as ‘aesthetic conservation’ – the conservation of an environment in accordance with pre-given conceptions of beauty (Urry, 1990).

To develop insights on how destination image can inf luence tourist behavior, I looked at a study done in Cigu, Sihcao and Haomeiliao in southwestern Taiwan on nature-based tourism in wetland areas (Lee, 2009).

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Nature-based tourism or ‘ecotourism’ can be def ined as tourism that directly depends on the use of natural resources in relatively undeveloped or undisturbed natural areas including scenery, topography, water features, vegetation, wildlife refuges and nature reserve areas (Fennell, 1999; Nyaupane, Morais, & Graefe, 2004). These studies considered variables of destination image, attitude, motivation, and satisfaction to determine future behavior of the tourists. Destination image can be def ined here as tourists’ overall perceptions of a specific destination (Fakeye & Crompton, 1991). This research concluded that destination image is widely considered to be a key aspect inf luencing tourist decisions. Findings suggest that, “when tourists have generally positive perceptions or impressions of a destination, they are more likely to select that destination.

Moreover, destination image can positively affect on-site recreation experiences, satisfaction and future behavior” (Beerli &Martın, 2004; Bigne et al 2012.). To distill these insights, the researchers developed a questionnaire for tourists visiting the Cigu, Sihcao and Haomeiliao wetlands. The analysis included measures of destination image, attitude, motivation, satisfaction, future behavior, tourism characteristics and background information of the tourists. The results indicate that destination image significantly and directly affects satisfaction and indirectly affects future behavior, suggesting that satisfaction is a reasonable predictor of future behavior. The study stated that “being close to nature was the most frequently cited motivation for visiting the study sites, and ecological interpretation was the most frequently cited aspects of destination image. Affection for ecological guides was the most frequently cited aspect of tourist attitude.

These results suggest that the attractiveness of nature and the opportunity to gain environmental education about wetlands should be emphasized for developing wetlands tourism” (Lee, 2009).

These studies offer a glimpse into the tourism literature supporting the hypothesis that destination image has a signif icant effect on both how tourists value landscapes as well as their attitudes and behaviors within natural spaces. This analysis outlines the relationships between Nation Branding (destination image) and the behavior of tourists in Bhutan, which has not yet been examined simultaneously. While further research needs to be conducted to assess the full range of impacts these different “gazes” have on values, behaviors, and policies affecting the environment, the data collected in this thesis aims to narrow that gap.

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D A TA F R O M RESEARCH. 26

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METHODOLOGY.

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This research primarily draws on interviews with tourists and their guides conducted while in Bhutan in areas with high inf luxes of tourists around popular cultural events, hotels, and popular cafes.

The data collection occurred over the course of a semester and seeks to address core questions around how nation branding in Bhutan inf luence the behaviors of tourists with respect to the natural environment. Each interview lasted approximately one hour and was captured through both audio recordings (with interviewee approval) and written transcriptions. Interviews drew from a list of 50 questions related to the interviewee’s background, tourist’s activities, environmental perceptions and behaviors, and the overall condition of sites visited. The list included both qualitative and quantitative questions. Questions were printed out prior to the interviews while promoting conversational and off the “script” responses if relevant questions arose that could supplement the research.

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The f irst day of interviewing and collecting data was on November 7, 2016 at the f irst day of the Jakar tshechu. From November 14 through November 17, the interviews shifted to Jambay Drub Lakhang, the location of a cultural festival, in order to target new sets of tourists. On November 18 and 19, the interviews were held in Choekhortoe, where Wangchuck Centennial Park is located. While in Choekhortoe, interviews were held with key informants including the manager of the national park on the impacts related to eco-tourism.

Interviews were also conducted with the residents of environmental guest-houses located in Choekhortoe. On November 21 through 23, interviews were held in Chamkar. These interviews targeted areas with high concentrations of tourists. The research team split up into pairs to conduct f ive to six interviews per day from roughly 9am to 5pm. This amounted to approximately 132 interviews in total. This thesis compiles and analyzes this data and begins expanding on ideas emerging from the research conducted in the country.

T O P A N D L E F T: C O N DU C T I N G I N T E RV I EWS B O T T OM : T H I M P H U R E SE A R C H SYM P O SI UM

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BRANDING INFLUENCING VALUES When Bhutan brands itself to tourists, the two primary focal points are an emphasis on its policies of Gross National Happiness and its protected environment. The questionnaire asked tourists, tour guides, and individuals associated with the tourism industry to rank a list of issues in order from most important to least important.

The issues listed were:

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[02]

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES;

[03]

ECONOMIC GROWTH;

[04]

SOCIAL INEQUALITY;

[05]

FOOD SECURITY;

[06]

ACCESS TO EDUCATION;

[07]

URBAN MIGRATION;

[08]

HAPPINESS/WELLBEING.

The results revealed that the top two most important issues: environment and happiness, accounted for 60.3% of all of the interviewee’s top choices.

The values that individuals working within the tourism industry possess relates directly to the marketing discourses that Bhutan places the highest emphasis on and the characteristics it aspires to be known for in the international community: Gross National Happiness and environmental conservation.

While the sample size for this analysis was limited, results from the interview process suggest that efforts to disseminate these values to both tourists and Bhutanese citizens working within the tourism industry has been successful. Tour guides provide the majority of information that the tourists receive while in the country and their values regarding Bhutan’s environment are passed directly to the tourists they are guiding. The tour guides receive extensive training on how to talk with tourists. This training is provided by the Tourism Council in Thimphu covering themes including Bhutanese culture, national history, and environment.

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In the interviews, 40% of tour guides said that environmental issues are the most pressing, and 20% of guides said that happiness and wellbeing is most important. Some justif ication for this split emerge in their statements where some say, “Bhutan is already a happy country, so although happiness is important, it is not something that needs to be worked on. On the other hand the environment is something that should be actively protected” (Rinchen, 2016). Approximately seven of the guides who chose environment as the most important issue mentioned Gross National Happiness as already being a success in the country due to their history of Buddhist values.

The data reveals that tourists place a large emphasis on happiness. 56.3% of tourists said that happiness and wellbeing is most important, while 25% of them said that environmental issues are the most pressings. Bhutan’s branded tagline: “happiness is a place” is on almost every tourism marketing tool, and is a phrase tourist

see constantly while in the country and prior to arrival. When we talked to tourists about what they heard about Bhutan before coming, almost all of them mentioned Bhutan’s unique policies surrounding Gross National Happiness and environmental conservation (or more specif ically the policies surrounding Bhutan’s requirement to have 60% forest cover).

The outliers in these f inding emerged from the regional Indian tourists interviewed. Many of these individuals did not prioritize environmental issues to the same degree as guides or international tourists. This could be due to the fact Bhutan does not brand itself to regional tourists in the same way that it brands itself to foreign tourists who pay the tariff. As the researchers talked to guides about the impacts of tourism, it became clear that a large majority of guides believe that regional tourists impact Bhutan in a more negative way than foreign tourists. The emphasis of this negative impact was attributed to overall

carelessness towards the environment, especially regarding trash and litter.

Many of the guides claimed discriminatorily that Indian tourists litter because they are “generally less educated and less environmentally aware.” A 32-year-old Indian tourist interviewed explained that he had no guiding reason for coming to Bhutan; he lives nearby and was on a road trip with his friends. When he was asked about his perceptions on Bhutan’s environment he said that “…having a good environment, and being eco-friendly, works best when a country has a population less than my city’s population.

Imposing eco-friendliness on place like India does not make sense. I don’t see any industries here in Bhutan, you need to have those industries somewhere in the world; and they happen to be in India. It’s fortunate that Bhutan is able to strike that balance, but you can’t use them as an example for other countries like India to follow. They age slower, we age faster” (Rash, 2016).

He further explained that he feels as though Bhutan puts pressure on India to be more environmentally friendly. This pressure surfaces in the tendency for guides to scapegoat regional tourist for the increase of garbage they see on trekking trails that are frequented by tourists.

The guides often engage in environmental stewardship to help mitigate issues with garbage and pollution. They often participate in trail cleanup during the off-season. Four of the guides that were interviewed mentioned that they pick up trash on popular tourists trails as a form of community service. A number of the guides explained that this community service is largely due to the fact that the tour companies want the trails to look clean and pristine for when the tourists come back during the high season. This claim provides an example of how the demands of the tourism industry and expectations of tourists can feed into practices attempting to protect the environment.

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VALUES INFLUENCING BEHAVIORS The interviewees were also asked to rank specif ic aspects of the tourist industry from most to least damaging, the list included: transportation, garbage, hotels, food waste, and trekking.

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58.8% of the individuals interviewed listed garbage as the most environmentally damaging.

The researchers also asked the tourists whether or not they recycle, in order to gauge whether or not their belief that the environment is the most pressing issue had any effect on this behavior or not. Of the 58.8% of people who believe that garbage is the most damaging to the environment, 84% claim that they recycle, and 16% of them do not. These statistics reveal a strong correlation between thinking that trash is damaging to environment and recycling in their home countries.

The interviewees were also asked qualitative questions about the activities they engage in back home to protect their respective environments, along with being asked if they engaged in any activities in Bhutan to help protect the environment. This question revealed that tourists do not have very much agency when making decisions on things that could be more or less environmentally friendly while in Bhutan. Their schedules, transportation, choices of hotels, food consumption, water bottle usage, and trash mitigation, are almost entirely managed by their guides. Because of this, it is diff icult for tourists to make signif icant decisions to help reduce negative impacts on the environment, even if they wanted to. One interviewee from Australia responded, “as tourists we must respect their environment by not dropping rubbish, minimize water and energy usage, and respect the local people” (Williams, 2016).

Back home in Australia, he recycles, tries to be aware of water and electricity conservation, plants trees, and composts. In Bhutan, he says he just picks up rubbish while trekking.

A couple from Germany said that they are helping to preserve the environment by traveling only on the main road and taking everything they bring back when they return.

Despite this practice, they recognize that they ultimately have a large environmental footprint by using a car and f lying in a plane to Bhutan. Neither of them felt as though they could do much to contribute to conserving Bhutan’s environment while they were there.

A man from France echoed these sentiments, stating that for any country, he would not throw trash on the ground and that he was acting here as he would in his own country.

He did not believe that he could inf luence anything in a meaningful way in just two weeks (Mathews, 2016).

A woman from New York asserted, “Every time I step on a plane, everything I’ve ever done to help the environment is erased immediately, any recycling or alternative energy I use in my house is completely gone with every plane ride” (Baker, 2016). Others responded differently. A man from England expressed that he was helping Bhutan’s environment simply by being in the country and paying the tourist tariff prices (James, 2016). Approximately eight other interviewees shared this opinion.

A woman from California said that she had a very important responsibility to Bhutan’s environment and thought of writing a letter to the king about issues regarding chip bags and the plastic bottles in the country. Overall, many seemed to resonate with the sentiments of a woman from the United States, who said, “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have” (Cook, 2016). This seemed to ref lect the general attitude of tourists on what they could do while they were in Bhutan with the little control they had as a result of their guides. Whatever values the guides or tour companies held towards the environment inf luenced the collective efforts of the group to minimize their environmental footprint.

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These interviews ref lect the ability of values to inf luence decisions and behaviors in a signif icant way. In Bhutan specif ically, the media inf luences both behaviors and values surrounding the tourist industry by emphasizing the “pristine” condition of the environment. Hotels also play a role in disseminating values and inf luencing environmental behaviors through their expanding online presence, especially evident in the case of the COMO luxury hotels in the country. The hotels that were interviewed who had websites mentioned that if they describe Bhutan’s environment at all, they describe it as “pristine”, with fresh air, natural landscapes, and Gross National Happiness at the forefront of their digital storytelling. To determine whether this language used on the websites had any effect on how tourists value landscapes in Bhutan, the tourists were asked what value they would put on a landscape while sitting on a hill looking at a view in Bhutan. The two most common frames used to describe the land were its pristine qualities and a feeling of oneness with nature.

Valuing the environment as “pristine” or seeing yourself as “one with nature” convey tangible

impacts on overall environmental consciousness as well as behaviors as simple as reusing bags instead of getting new ones or throwing them away. When asked what they do with bags they receive while shopping in Bhutan, 72.7% of tourists said they reused their bags and 27.3% did not take bags at all because they were usually carrying a backpack.

The data also revealed a trend that many people read or bought the Lonely Planet book on Bhutan before visiting. This was by far the most specif ic and frequently referenced source of information they accessed before visiting.

The book describes Bhutan as “mountains, monasteries, and magic,” offering “one of the last pristine pockets in the entire Himalaya. If it’s not ‘Shangri La’, it’s as close as it gets” (Lonely Planet, 2016). Lonely Planet holds signif icant inf luence over the success of businesses that make it into the book. We spoke with the owner of a small restaurant in Bumthang who told us a story about how in 2013, an Austrian woman came into his restaurant (which at the time primarily only hosted locals or traveling

Bhutanese businessmen). The owner later realized that she worked for Lonely Planet and ended up featuring his restaurant in her review. He now receives many tourists during the tsheshu season, which has provided him enough income to buy land that he plans to turn into a tourist café and guesthouse. Lonely Planet continues to inf luence tourist’s decisions to visit his restaurant, which then inf luenced his success and decisions to invest in building additional infrastructure to further feed into the tourism industry. On the website for his guest house and café, he explained that he is planning on describing the area as having clean fresh air, a peaceful atmosphere, and being integrated with nature. Part of this “nature integration” package will include the option to rent horses from the guesthouse and go on a trail that he created, which leads through undeveloped land directly to his café equipped with Wi-Fi, cappuccinos, and many other amenities that a tourist may desire.

The owner indicated that he bought the land from a farmer who for several years would not sell it to him because he wanted to keep it in the family. As times grew more diff icult and money became tight, the farmer f inally gave in and sold it. This anecdote points to the myriad ways in which information communicated in publications like Lonely Planet spill over to inf luence other sectors such as agriculture.

This butterf ly effect emanates from broader marketing trends surrounding the tourism industry in Bhutan, multiplying the impact of the country’s pursuit of a robust tourism industry on general behaviors and decisions that touch lives and livelihoods throughout the country. The interconnected nature of these issues, solidif ied in every angle of the nation branding process, continue to act as a leverage points upon which all entities aff iliated with marketing Bhutan to the outside world apply pressure and shape behaviors of both Bhutanese nationals and outsiders.

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CONCLUSION Tourism and the path towards branding Bhutan has opened a window into a corner of the world that has remained relatively obscured throughout an era def ined by increasing globalization. The pressures inf licted by these processes of global integration represent the “why” in the question of why it was determined necessary to brand Bhutan in the way that was chosen. South Asian scholars grappling with postcolonial identity also address the “why” of this question. In The Nation and its Fragments, Partha Chatterjee emphasizes the identity crises arising from globalization where “even our imaginations must remain forever colonized” (Chatterjee, 1997). Chatterjee laments the ascendency of Western ideas and strategies of development above regional alternatives. In this era, the physical dominance the Global North exerted over the South through brute force and conquest has been replaced with forms of indirect neo-colonialism which rely on ideological and capital monopolization. The injection of foreign ideas and systems bolts a ceiling over the potential for independent growth and innovation, and attempts to eradicate regional differences in the construction of a global world.

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Serving as an outlier to Chatterjee’s assertions of the colonized mind, Bhutan has charted a clear path towards self-determination. Based on the f indings of this analysis, it can be argued that Bhutan has strengthened its voice and retained agency in the construction of its own national identity. This strong sense of self allows the nation to preserve cultural traditions and ecosystem resilience while promoting the overall wellbeing of all life within its borders. While Bhutan’s relative isolation from colonialism and other favorable characteristics such as its small population and abundance of natural resources are central components enabling this self-determination, the decision to converge around an accepted ‘brand’ serves as an example of an alternative form of development that is meaningful to the people and places represented under the modern state. Insights gathered from interviews with several groups of people and research on the branding process at a higher level indicates that Bhutan has achieved, at least partial success in establishing a clear brand. This brand informs the decisions made by tourists as well as their behaviors while in the country. All of these systems integrate to form cycles that generate both the f inancial resources and shared values required to maintain conservation efforts, ensuring that a growing tourism industry minimizes its impact on the livelihoods and landscapes that sustain it.

Given the success of “Brand Bhutan” in materializing some of its goals for the country, there are limitations to prioritizing a relatively homogenous image for a multifaceted state. The branding process consists of both light and dark elements, where real environmental and economic benef its associated with the rise of tourism were purchased at the expense of the people and places that did not f it into the “One Nation, One People” policies of the late 20th century. The Bhutanese Shangri La is an enclosed paradise, built with walls that actively keep out the undesirable sub-cultures that muddy the waters keeping the modern state af loat. Beyond this, instead of chipping away at the edif ices of orientalism that persist in today’s age, Bhutan has capitalized on perceptions of cultural and civilizational difference that f ill and maintain the spaces between the West and ‘the Rest.’

For all of its limitations, the exercise of nation branding in Bhutan can serve as a model, or a case study at the very least. This analysis has focused on the impact of this model of nation branding-based on environmental policy and conservation. Further research should explore the impact of this strategy on other variables such as sustainable economic development. Bhutan demonstrates how centralized nationalism can reinforce cultural values that shape identity. This has empowered the country to develop in a way, and at a rate, that is harmonious with shared visions for the future of the county.

This is a biased process, and the limitations of mobilizing a homogenous understanding of ‘Bhutan’ emerge in programs of exile and the enforcement of cultural norms over a diverse population. It is possible that, although the economic growth generated by the tourism industry has spilled over to f inance government programs serving all Bhutanese people, a branding process built from the ground-up could be more effective in distributing the benef its of growth across the population. Brand Bhutan is an evolving and f luid entity, and can serve as a strong foundation for the nation as it charts its path forward into the future. In the face of global crises such as climate change, the world needs leaders like Bhutan to help imagine development strategies that respect and adhere to ecological limits to growth. As was accurately referenced by regional tourists, Bhutan is not subject to the same set of issues facing a larger neighbor such as India, and thus their approach to conservation and development can not indiscriminately be moved and scaled. However, the ways in which Bhutan and its leaders value and prioritize ecosystem health and universal well being as fundamental elements to its “brand” have both benef ited its people and left an impression on foreigners visiting the country. As the world comes under increased pressure to pay the price of unchecked growth, Bhutan embodies the possibilities available to a nation that recognizes the interdependence of environmental health and human happiness. It is the f irst phase in the reimagination of a civilization identity that is required to fully serve the planet and the people it sustains in the years to come.

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M O T I VAT IO N A F F E C T T H E F U T U R E B E HAV IO R O F F U T U R E B R A N D ( 2 0 1 4 ) , B R A N D B H U TA N P R OJ E C T,

T OU R I ST S

E X E C U T I V E SUM M A RY N YAU PA N E , G . P. , M O R A I S , D. B. , & G R A E F E , A . R .

G I L B OA , E . ( 2 0 0 8 ) . SE A R C H I N G F O R A T H E O RY O F P U B L IC

( 2 0 0 4 ) . NAT U R E - BA SE D T OU R I SM C O N ST R A I N T S : A

D I P L OM AC Y. T H E A N NA L S O F T H E A M E R IC A N AC A D E M Y

C R O S S - AC T I V I T Y C OM PA R I S O N . A N NA L S O F T OU R I SM

U R RY, J. ( 1 9 9 0 ) T H E T OU R I ST G A Z E . L O N D O N : S AG E . P P

O F P O L I T IC A L A N D S O C IA L S C I E N C E , 6 1 6 ( 5 5 ) , 5 5 – 7 7 .

R E SE A R C H , 3 1 ( 3 ) , 5 4 0 – 5 5 5 .

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G OV E R N M E N T O F N E PA L . “N E PA L T O U R I SM S TAT I ST IC S

P C HO P H E L , D E N DU P, A N D S A N G AY T H I N L EY. “A N I M A L

VA N HA M , P. ( 2 0 0 8 ) . P L AC E B R A N D I N G : T H E S TAT E O F

2 0 1 6 .” M I N I S T RY O F C U LT U R E , T O U R I SM & C I V I L

W E L L B E I N G : T H E C O N C E P T A N D P R AC T IC E O F T SE T HA R

T H E A RT. T H E A N NA L S O F T H E A M E R IC A N AC A D E M Y O F

AV IAT IO N P L A N N I N G & EVA LUAT IO N D I V I SIO N R E SE A R C H

I N B H U TA N .” BU D D H I SM C O N F E R E N C E 2 0 1 2 , 2 0 1 2 .

P O L I T IC A L A N D S O C IA L S C I E N C E , 6 1 6 ( 1 ) , 1 2 6 – 1 4 9 .

P L A N N I N G C OM M I S SIO N , R OYA L G OV E R N M E N T O F

VO L C IC , Z . ( 2 0 0 8 ) . F O R M E R Y U G O SL AV IA O N T H E WO R L D

B H U TA N ( P C ) . 2 0 0 1 . N I N T H F I V E - Y E A R P L A N , 2 8

W I D E W E B : C OM M E R C IA L I Z AT IO N A N D B R A N D I N G O F

& S TAT I S T IC A L SE C T IO N , 2 0 1 6 , D O I : 1 0 . 1 8 4 1 1 / D - 2 0 1 6 - 1 5 4 .

I M AG E , AT T I T U D E , A N D M O T I VAT IO N A F F E C T T H E

NAT IO N - STAT E S . T H E I N T E R NAT IO NA L C OM M U N IC AT IO N

F U T U R E B E HAV IO R O F T O U R I S T S , L E I SU R E S C I E N C E S , 31:3,

P L A N N I N G C OM M I S SIO N SE C R E TA R IAT, R OYA L

GAZETTE, 70(5), 395–413.

G OV E R N M E N T O F B H U TA N : B H U TA N 2 0 2 0 : A V I SIO N F O R J E F F R E E , R O S S . “B H U TA N ’ S E N V I R O N M E N TA L SU C C E S S

P E AC E , P R O SP E R I T Y, HA P P I N E S S . 1 9 9 9 . P. 3 6

WA N G , J. ( 2 0 0 8 ) . T H E P OW E R A N D L I M I T S O F B R A N D I N G I N NAT IO NA L I M AG E C OM M U N IC AT IO N I N

I S A P L E A SI N G PA R A D OX .” T H E C O N V E R S AT IO N , T H E R I SE N , C . ( 2 0 0 5 , D E C E M B E R 1 1 ) . B R A N D I N G NAT IO N S .

G L O BA L S O C I E T Y. T H E J OU R NA L O F I N T E R NAT IO NA L

T H E N EW YO R K T I M E S M AG A Z I N E .

C OM M U N IC AT IO N , 1 4 ( 2 ) , 9 – 2 4 .

R OY, I . S . ( 2 0 0 7 ) . WO R L D S A PA RT: NAT IO N - B R A N D I N G

W I D L E R , J. ( 2 0 0 7 ) . NAT IO N B R A N D I N G : W I T H P R I D E

O N T H E NAT IO NA L G E O G R A P H IC C HA N N E L . M E D IA ,

AG A I N ST P R E J U D IC E . P L AC E B R A N D I N G A N D P U B L IC

C U LT U R E & S O C I E T Y, 2 9 ( 4 ) , 5 6 9 – 5 9 2 .

D I P L OM AC Y, 3 ( 2 ) , 1 4 4 – 1 5 0 .

C OM M U N I S T BU L G A R IA . D O C T O R A L D I S SE RTAT IO N ,

S C H R O E D E R , K E N T 2 0 1 5 . C U LT U R A L VA LU E S A N D

“B H U TA N : C OM M I T T E D T O C O N SE RVAT IO N .” W W F,

U N I V E R SI T Y O F C O L O R A D O AT B O U L D E R .

SU STA I NA B L E T OU R I SM G OV E R NA N C E I N B H U TA N ,

WO R L D W I L D L I F E F U N D, W W W. WO R L DW I L D L I F E . O R G /

I N T E R NAT IO NA L D EV E L O P M E N T I N ST I T U T E , H UM B E R

P R OJ E C T S / B H U TA N - C OM M I T T E D - T O - C O N SE RVAT IO N .

C O N V E R S AT IO N , 3 M AY 2 0 1 8 , T H E C O N V E R S AT IO N . C OM / B H U TA N S - E N V I R O N M E N TA L SU C C E S S - I S - A- P L E A SI N G - PA R A D OX - 2 1 3 3 8 .

KA N EVA , N . ( 2 0 0 7 A ) . R E - I M AG I N I N G NAT IO N A S B R A N D : G L O BA L I Z AT IO N A N D NAT IO NA L I D E N T I T Y I N P O ST-

KA N EVA , N . ( 2 0 0 9 ) . C R I T IC A L R E F L E C T IO N S O N NAT IO N

COLLEGE “H I ST O RY O F G N H .” G N H C E N T R E B H U TA N , W W W.

B R A N D I N G A S D I S C O U R SE A N D P R AC T IC E . PA P E R P R E SE N T E D AT T H E C O N F E R E N C E I M AG E S O F NAT IO N S :

SU N T I K U L , D O R J I . 2 0 1 6 . T OU R I SM D EV E L O P M E N T:

G N HC E N T R E B H U TA N . O R G / W HAT- I S - G N H / H I S T O RY- O F-

S T R AT E G IC C OM M U N IC AT IO N , S O F T P OW E R A N D T H E

T H E C HA L L E N G E S O F AC H I EV I N G SU STA I NA B L E

GNH/.

M E D IA , AT H E N S , G R E E C E , F E B RUA RY 2 0 0 9 .

L I V E L I HO O D S I N B H U TA N ’ S R E M O T E R E AC H E S , I N T E R NAT IO NA L J OU R NA L O F T OU R I SM R E SE A R C H , I N T.

KA R M A J IG M E T E M P H E L ( 2 0 1 6 ) “C OM M U N I T Y F O R E ST RY:

J. T OU R I SM R E S . , 1 8 : 4 4 7 – 4 5 7

SU P P O RT I N G B H U TA N ’ S NAT IO NA L A N D M D G G OA L S W H I L E P R O T E C T I N G F O R E S T S , S O C IA L F O R E S T RY

T E R R I A . HA S SE L E R ( 2 0 0 8 ) . T H E P R OM I SE O F T O U R I SM :

D I V I SIO N , T H I M P H U B H U TA N

C O L O N IA L I M AG E RY I N A DV E RT I SI N G . T H E R A D IC A L T E AC H E R , N O. 8 2 , T E AC H I N G P O ST- C O L O N IA L

K I N G D OM O F B H U TA N . “B H U TA N T O U R I SM M O N I T O R A N N UA L R E P O RT.” T O U R I SM C O U N C I L O F B H U TA N , 2 0 1 4 .

L I T E R AT U R E S I N T H E AG E O F E M P I R E , P P 1 9 - 2 4

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B RANDING   |  B H U TA N

T H A N K Y O U. T hes is p r esented to the Glo bal St udie s P r og ra m in P a r t ia l Fulfillm e nt of t h e Req uir ements for t h e D e g r e e of Ba ch e lor of A r t s

I C OU L D N O T HAV E D O N E T H I S W I T H OU T A L L O F YOU

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My Editor: Conner Smith The Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment and my research team: Sadie Mae Palmatier, Peter Sills, Maria Carnevale, and Matt Branch The School For Field Studies The New School and my thesis professors: Alexandra Delano and Amanda Zadorian My Family: Dale Mitchell, Lauren Mitchell, Nicole Tergis, and my twin brother Derek Mitchell My support system: Dominique Flaksburg, Anna Tedstrom, Domenica Gallinatti, Bradley Johnson, and Alexa Gantos

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