dendup

Although Carbon Neutral Travels was formally registered in 2025, its roots go back more than 25 years of professional experience and passion for environmental conservation and ecotourism in Bhutan. The idea gained clearer direction in 2019 during the Startup Weekend – Taking Tourism to the Top, organized by the then Tourism Council of Bhutan, Bhutan Innovation & Technology Centre, Thimphu TechPark, and Techstars, where years of conservation and tourism experience began evolving into a vision for responsible, low-carbon travel in Bhutan.

During the three-day Startup Weekend in Thimphu, more than 60 business ideas were pitched. My idea was “Community-Based Carbon Negative Tourism Group” with an emphasis on carbon neutrality and socio-economic development. I wanted to explore a model of tourism that would not only bring visitors to Bhutan, but also benefit local communities, support conservation and encourage travellers to become more conscious of their environmental footprint.

During the team-building process, I connected with Alex and Lawrence from Australia, who shared similar interests. We were later joined by four Bhutanese participants, including young graduates who saw the initiative as an opportunity to build something new. Together, we developed and presented the concept of what we envisioned as Bhutan’s first carbon-neutral travel company. At the end of the Startup Weekend, our team—Carbon Neutral Bhutan Tours—was selected as the winner.

Following the competition, we were provided with an incubation space at Thimphu TechPark, where we began working to transform the idea into an actual tourism business.

The Nu. 50,000 prize money became our initial start-up capital. Part of it was used toward licensing and establishment requirements, while the remaining amount was maintained in a joint bank account with Bhutan National Bank.

As the two Australian members were not legally eligible at the time to become shareholders or licensed partners in the Bhutanese company, the business licence was eventually registered under five Bhutanese co-founders. We nevertheless agreed that Alex and Lawrence would remain connected to the venture and could support the company as overseas partners and potential agents. We developed our website, worked on our tourism products and were preparing to receive our first guests. What had started as an idea during Startup Weekend was gradually becoming a real business.

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. The disruption to international tourism brought our young start-up to a standstill before we could properly enter the market. Like many tourism businesses, our plans, partnerships and anticipated first tours were interrupted.

Even during this period, I continued encouraging the Bhutanese partners to keep the business licence and tax obligations up to date in the hope that the company could eventually restart when tourism recovered. Over the following years, however, our original team gradually dispersed. Some members moved abroad, including to Australia, while others pursued different careers and activities.

In 2025, while attempting to renew my consulting business, Druk Siddhi Consulting, I discovered that unresolved tax and compliance obligations associated with the Carbon Neutral Bhutan Tours business were affecting my ability to complete the formalities for my other business.

I therefore began trying to regularize the outstanding obligations. I initially paid the 2021 liability from my own savings and explored whether the remaining start-up funds could be used toward the accumulated penalties. When I checked the joint account, however, I found that the expected balance was no longer available. I informed the former partners and sought their support in resolving the outstanding obligations.

By then, renewing the old tourism licence would also have required a substantial financial commitment. I contacted the partners through our group communication channel to enquire if anyone wished to continue and renew the company. With the original members now dispersed and no one coming forward to restart the business, I sought guidance from the relevant tax authorities. I was advised that cancellation of the inactive licence would prevent additional liabilities from continuing to accumulate.

Ultimately, I had little practical choice but to close the original business. The accumulated compliance costs also had consequences for my consulting firm, and I eventually had to discontinue Druk Siddhi Consulting as well.

Closing the original company did not mean abandoning the long held passion.

The concept of carbon-neutral tourism had always been much more than a business name for me. It reflected my long-standing professional commitment to conservation, ecotourism, community development and responsible use of natural resources.

So I decided to begin again. When I applied for a new tourism business, the original name “Carbon Neutral Bhutan Tours” could no longer be registered because of changes in the rules governing the use of “Bhutan” in travel-business names. I therefore carried the original vision forward under a new name:

The new company was formally registered in October 2025.

Although Carbon Neutral Travels as the present tour operation was established in 2025, the idea behind it was neither new nor sudden. It represents the continuation of a journey that began with my work in conservation in 1997, developed into a carbon-neutral tourism concept in 2019, survived the disruption of the pandemic, and was eventually revived as a new venture.

For me, starting again was not simply about reopening a tourism business. It was about remaining committed to one’s passion that I genuinely believe in: that tourism can create memorable experiences while supporting communities, conserving nature and reducing its impact on the planet.

The company may have a new beginning, but the vision remains the same—travel that is lighter on the Earth, meaningful for visitors and beneficial to the people and places that make Bhutan special.

For more about this journey, please also read my other posts on how my experience in conservation and ecotourism eventually led me to become a tour operator.