Once upon a time, there was a group of travelers who were looking for the perfect trip. They wanted to go somewhere exciting and exotic, but they also wanted to make sure that they were safe and secure throughout their journey. That’s where our travel company comes in.
At our company, we believe that travel is all about great service. We pride ourselves on providing safe travel all the way, from the moment you book your trip to the moment you return home. We arrange things you don’t know you can ask for, making sure that your trip is everything you want it to be and more.
We understand that sometimes, a trip can be a bit more complicated, especially if you have children or grandparents along. That’s why we plan trips with pacing that works well for all ages. We think of sightseeing in half-day increments and getting enrichment early in the day, so you can enjoy your trip to the fullest.
But we don’t just stop there. We also organize extra activities during your trip and ensure that your trip benefits the local community. We help plan trips that align with your personal values such as conservation and sustainability, so you can feel good about your travels.
And if things go wrong during your trip, like an emergency, a disease outbreak, or a natural disaster, we are there to help. We not only expedite your new plan, but we can also be your backup should anything go wrong.
Our connections and expertise can become your conduit to a smoother and more stimulating trip. We really shine in helping you maximize your time on your trip so you’re not spending hours at the concierge desk. Online agencies can’t match the personal attention to details that we provide for you.
We believe that travel is your most valuable non-renewable asset, and you don’t want to leave it to chance. That’s why we’re the travel equivalents of financial advisors, making sure that your trip is not only memorable but also safe and secure.
So if you’re looking for the perfect trip, look no further than our travel company. We’re here to provide you with everything you need and more.
Travel is about eliminating language barriers
– Understanding people, culture & religion – Discovering yourself in a fun way.
The Tigers Nest in Paro Valley, Bhutan.
A look into a Bhutanese travel company and its journey through the pandemic.
If you are looking to feel at home in a new place, get the best of nature, a vibrant culture with warm people then look no further than Druk Heritage Experience.
Not only those, but you will also experience many serendipitous moments as you delve into Bhutan with Druk Heritage.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Karma Dorji, and his small most proactive team will be at your disposal to make sure that you get the best of everything Bhutan has to offer.
Let’s get a glimpse at what more the company offers and the man behind the seamless services from Druk Heritage.
Druk Heritage began its experiences for guests in 2009 and focused mainly on Cultural/ Heritage, Gross National Happiness, and Educational trips.
Karma started his travel experience with support from his friends and a goal to make his guests feel at home with the Bhutanese people, its culture and lifestyles.
Karma on a trip with one of his clients.
How do you make them feel.
Before his venture, he worked in one of Bhutan’s biggest travel companies, Nobu Bhutan Travels, and in Bangkok, Thailand with a Danish travel company just after completing college.
Karma says: “My working experience paved way for my interest in tourism and helped me build my network.”
When Karma started the company, he didn’t give thought to whether he would have guests or not, he says. “I mustered up the courage to begin a new adventure and portray Bhutan and the world through a different perspective”.
The company’s first guest was an American where Karma went on this trip along with the guest and his team – a guide and a chauffeur. From then on Druk Heritage received three groups of guests a month and he has made it a part of the process to join parts of the journeys with his groups and make his trips better each time.
Karma says that it is important for him to find ways to connect with his guests.
“I want to give undivided attention to my guests and make them feel at ease in Bhutan with the experiences my company offers,” he says. “I sit down to talk to them and know them. With the less guest volume, I could be proactive and plan trips according to the moment’s need.”
At the World Travel Market in London 2018.
Druk Heritage strives to provide safe travel from the moment the guests arrive in the country until they get home. We are in constant communication with our guests whenever they feel the need to.
“The company works to ensure they are worry-free during their travel and make the best of their days in Bhutan,” Karma says. D ruk Heritage plans trips aligning with the guests’ values and principles, and the team puts an extra effort into initiating activities which guests were not aware they could do in Bhutan. Travel is about eliminating language barriers, understand people, culture, and tradition, says Karma, adding that it is also about discovering yourself in a fun way. “Travelling, for me, is about the comfort and ease of the other person. I try to make them feel and live in the moment in the short while I try to know them,” he says. “But even before our clients, it is my team in the company that I ensure are content and happy.”
Karma, with the company, represented Bhutan in travel fairs in many countries. “I told the country’s stories to the people abroad. I told them stories they could relate to in Bhutan.”
Karma with the Blue Dragon Content Team.
It doesn’t matter where you come from, and where you’re headed in life, he said, what matters is how you treat people along your journey. And for a anyone who loves to travel and is in this line of work, you gotta fall in love with people. You have to have the quality of accepting people and respecting their values while being authentic and genuine yourself. The company was about to venture into providing adventure experiences in 2019 but all this changed with the pandemic and closure of the country’s borders. Tourism closed, bringing livelihoods at stake. Change swept the country and the ways of life. Druk Heritage paid the employees for six months although there was no income after the closure of the borders. Some employees with the company returned to their farms, and some left to work and study in other countries. “The pandemic was a challenge, and ensuring the livelihood of my employees was a concern,” Karma says.
He says that the biggest challenge, however, is reinventing oneself to adapt to a new state. It was time to upgrade oneself with new skills and in the coming months Karma took up online classes in public speaking, sales, marketing, managing people etc. After months of border closure, Karma joined a digital marketing company in Thimphu as their CEO. Blue Dragon Digital Marketing is the country’s first and only comprehensive digital marketing firm with a team of 35 members offering content marketing, search engine optimization, social media management, client success managers and email marketing services. At the digital marketing company, Karma learnt new skills in the digital marketing world and started sessions such as Marvel Monday, Tenacious Tuesdays and Wealthy Wednesdays where the team shares their weekly experiences on how they have become better at their tasks, their well being, their communication skills and also allows the team members share their interests and passions apart from work.
Karma believes that you can’t build culture. Whether you have 3 employees or 100 employees, culture is not a building, you can’t build it, you can only guide it, it has an energy of its own. What Karma learnt was that culture is cadence – its not about that one time big event that you do or that party you have once a year or that trip your office takes once a year, it is about what what you do week in week out, its what you do on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednedays and those friday wrap ups. Week in and week out is what guides the energy of the team and creates a culture of moving forward joyfully. It is always your people first and the rest will fall into place.
He also started practising spirituality since the pandemic started and put these spiritual values into what he does. “Incorporating spirituality into business is an act of balancing inner self with the outer circumstances. It is through spirituality one builds the oar to row through challenges and adapt to situation demands.”
Karma believes that seeing self clearly allows innovation to spark and give the best to life. “Everybody knows what to do, the fundamentals of relaxing and calming self, the challenge is doing it day in-and-out.”
The answer lies within all of us.
Moving forth, Karma is hopeful about the tourism sector and reviving his company.
According to local press reports, tourism is set to open beginning September with reforms. The Sustainable Development Fee of USD 65 per person per night increases to USD 200 which will go towards activities that promote carbon-neutral tourism and build a more sustainable tourism sector. Karma says that he welcomes the government’s move. “The elected leaders know what is best for the country,” he says.Bhutan will be officially opening to the outside world this Sep 23, 2022 and simultaneously his responsibilities with Blue Dragon will end then and he will move forward with his travel adventures.The company is focusing on providing adventure tours as tourism picks up.
He has been going on treks such as the famous Jomolhari trek and the lost trail of Bringdungla, and exploring trails to see what logistics his guests would require in the future.
“It is in these trails you see real Bhutan,” Karma says. “I live these experiences to understand the likely discomfort my guests could face later and accordingly make arrangements for their comfort.”
At Jhomolhari Base Camp, Bhutan, April 2022.
The Tourism Council of Bhutan’s reports shows that there were 3,525 tour operators and 315,599 tourists visiting in 2019. Karma says that the sector has to be patient. “Come September, and we will know where we are heading, the market will speak for itself, the market is the market is the market”
Like many say today, it will be challenging to sell tours, he added. “During good times and easy living, people can be kind, giving, loving and in a good state but when things hit one hard, one changes so it’s important to show those same qualities and be patient and stay calm.” In addition to Druk Heritage Experiences, Karma is working towards establishing Karma Bhutan, a travel company targeting luxury guests.
“Entering the luxury travel market is difficult. You have to have connections and move into to the inner circle apart from providing great services and understanding your clients well,” he says. “Nevertheless, I will do my part and what’s best for our guests.”
For a decade, Druk Heritage Travels duly provided one of the best tourism services in Bhutan. Whether it is arranging a meeting with a government official to visiting schools, the company made it possible for their guests.
No one was ready for the changes the pandemic brought. People showed resilience and grit to survive the toughest battle. Similarly, Druk Heritage is coming out with renewed goals and determination to give the best tourism service in Bhutan.
Karma Bhutan – Inspiration, Creation, Personality.