Terms of Service

This site is operated by Chapter Bhutan Tours & Treks, a licensed tour operator based at Thimphu, Kingdom of Bhutan. “We” and “us” mean Chapter Bhutan Tours & Treks; “you” means the person submitting an enquiry and, where you are booking for others, each traveller in your party.

Submitting the enquiry form creates a request, not a reservation. It does not hold lodging, guides, vehicles or permits, and it does not oblige either of us to proceed.

Any figure shown to you on this site before you receive a quotation is an estimate. It is calculated from published rates and may change once we confirm what is actually available on your dates.

We respond to enquiries with a written quotation itemising the journey and the Sustainable Development Fee. A quotation is an offer to arrange the journey described in it, valid until the date stated on its face. Beyond that date lodging rates and the Sustainable Development Fee may have changed and we may need to re-quote.

Prices are quoted in USD unless the quotation says otherwise.

Your journey is confirmed only when we write to you to confirm it. Accepting a quotation, and paying against it, are steps toward confirmation but are not themselves confirmation.

The Sustainable Development Fee is a levy of the Royal Government of Bhutan, charged per traveller per night. We collect it on the government's behalf and remit it in full; it is not a service charge and it is not our margin.

The rate that applies depends on your nationality and is set by the government, which may change it. Where it changes before your journey is confirmed, the revised rate applies. See our Sustainable Development Fee page.

• The approval of tourist VISA is contingent on the full payment of the tour
• Flight ticket payment is subject to the Ticketing Time Limit issued by the airlines

Bank charges levied by your own bank or an intermediary bank are yours to bear.

Where you cancel a confirmed journey, the following charges apply:

• 30 to 15 days prior to arrival - 20% of the total tour cost will be levied as cancellation fee
• 14 to 7 days prior to arrival - 50% of the tour cost will be levied as cancellation fee
• Less than a week prior to arrival - 100% cancellation charge will be levied as cancellation fee

There are no charges for rescheduling your trip. However the minimum daily tariff, hotel rates and airline charges are subject to change depending on your new travelling dates.

Flights. Subject to the cancellation terms of the Airline.

Cancellations must reach us in writing at concierge@bhutanchapter.bt. The date we receive your written notice is the date used to calculate any charge.

Most international visitors require a visa before arrival, which we apply for on your behalf as your licensed operator. Approval is a decision of the Department of Immigration and is not something we can guarantee.

You are responsible for holding a passport valid for the period required by the authorities, and for giving us name and passport details that match it exactly. Costs arising from details supplied incorrectly are yours.

Bhutanese regulation requires visitors to be accompanied by a licensed guide for the duration of their visit, and to travel on an itinerary arranged through a licensed operator. Your journey is arranged on that basis.

You must hold travel insurance covering medical treatment, emergency evacuation, and cancellation, for the whole of your journey. Mountain trekking at altitude often requires a specific extension — check your policy covers the itinerary you have booked.

Occasionally we must change an arrangement. Where lodging becomes unavailable we will substitute accommodation of an equivalent or higher standard. Where weather, road conditions, monastery closures or festival scheduling require it, we may reorder or substitute activities, and your guide may adjust the day's plan on the ground for safety.

Where a change materially reduces what you have paid for and no equivalent is possible, we will discuss a refund of the affected portion with you.

We are not liable for failure to perform where it is caused by events beyond our reasonable control — including weather, natural disaster, epidemic, closure of airspace or borders, industrial action, or acts of government.

We arrange your journey with reasonable skill and care. We are responsible for the services we provide directly; we are not responsible for loss or injury arising from your own acts, from your failure to follow your guide's safety instructions, or from services you arrange independently of us.

Nothing in these terms limits liability where it cannot lawfully be limited.

What we collect and why is set out in our Privacy Policy.

These terms are governed by the law of the Kingdom of Bhutan, and disputes arising from them are subject to the jurisdiction of its courts.

Questions about these terms: concierge@bhutanchapter.bt or +975 2 324 556.