TOURISM COUNCIL OF BHUTAN APPOINTS CHARSON ADVISORY AS INDIA REPRESENTATIVE TCB to intensify marketing and public relations activity Mumbai, 21st January 2013: Tourism Council of Bhutan – the government body responsible for marketing, planning, regulating and monitoring tourism in Bhutan has appointed Charson Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd. as their India representative office. This is the first time that Bhutan will be represented in India. Charson Advisory headquartered out of Mumbai is India's one of the leading destination marketing, brand management and public relations agencies dedicated to the Indian travel and tourism industry. The company boasts of a diverse range of travel and tourism related clients that include tourism boards, travel search engines and the hospitality sector. Charson Advisory will be responsible for carrying out marketing initiatives, trade industry relations, media networking and public relations activities in India on behalf of Tourism Council of Bhutan. Commenting on their heightened presence in India, Mr. ThujiDorjiNadik, Acting Managing Director for the Secretariat of the Tourism Council of Bhutan commented, “We have always felt close to India on account of our proximity to the country, its people and association through trade and tourism. Given the importance and potential of the Indian outbound market, we have entrusted Charson Advisory with the responsibility of further strengthening Bhutan's relationship with Indian travel trade community, travelers and developing new niche market segments.” In the year 2011, Bhutan received 65, 756 high-end visitors with a growth of 56.65% over year 2010 and this does not include 35,077 regional tourists coming via land. As part of the mandate to further enhance the image and intrigue in the destination, Charson Advisory plans on amplifying Bhutan’s diverse tourism product offerings through trade industry training workshops, marketing and communication activity management, familiarization visits for the trade and media in addition to disseminating brochures, industry newsletters, press releases and solving consumer queries. On being appointed as the representative office, Carl Vaz, Chairman & CEO of Charson Advisory, commented, “We are immensely proud to have been selected as Tourism Council of Bhutan’s India representative office. Our aim will be to promote various strengths of Bhutan by focusing on the luxury market segment by highlighting the culture and heritage, sports and wellbeing aspects of the destination. Given the burgeoning outbound market in India, we are confident of increasing the number of quality Indian tourist arrivals into Bhutan through active cooperation of the Indian travel fraternity.” Further commenting on their niche segment promotional strategy, SonaleeVaz, Managing Director of Charson Advisory said, “Bhutan is a relatively unexplored and romantic destination for Indian honeymoon segment. With its unique blend of diverse ecology and culture, coupled with the increasing trend of Indians wanting to escape to international locales, Bhutan makes for the perfect choice. We aim to also promote Bhutan as a wedding destination in the short haul segment. We will also concentrate on working closely with the Indian travel fraternity to launch more qualitative and diversified packages in time for the honeymoon and wedding season.” About Tourism Council of Bhutan: The tourism industry in Bhutan is relatively young having been initiated only in 1974 at the time of the coronation of the fourth King. In 2008, realizing the importance of a multi-sectoral approach towards tourism development, the Department of Tourism was granted autonomy under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister and renamed the Tourism Council of Bhutan. The Tourism Council of Bhutan is mandated with the following functions and responsibilities: Tourism Planning & Policy, Regulation and Monitoring, Facilitation and Co-ordination, Marketing and Promotion, Development of Tourism Products & Services and Human Resource Development. For further information, please contact: Mehrin Shamsi Charson Advisory Services Pvt Ltd 1104, Arcadia, 11th Floor, NCPA Street, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021, INDIA Tel: +91-22-65172273 Email: exec.office@charsonadvisory.com DamchoRinzin Tourism Council of Bhutan Tarayana Centre, Chubachu P.O Box No 126 Tel: +975 2 323252/2. Email: damchorinzin@tourism.gov.bt