• The Yangphel Company, founder of Hotel Zhiwa Ling has been an enthusiastic and vital advocate of the tourism industry in Bhutan since its beginnings in 1988 as an adventure travel tour company.

  • In 2005, building on its five core values, the company opened the first fully Bhutanese owned 5 star hotel in Paro, Hotel Zhiwa Ling. In all of its endeavors, however, Yangphel has remained true to its original commitment to uphold the kingdom’s traditions and values and apply the unique Bhutanese principles of Gross National Happiness (GNH) in all its affairs.

  • Hotel Zhiwa Ling has embarked on a ground breaking quest to bring sustainability into every day-to-day operation of the hotel so that all are on a par with international standards for ‘green’ hotels and the aspirations of our guests.

Sustainability About
Sustainability in Zhiwa Ling
    • What differentiates Zhiwa Ling’s Sustainable Tourism Program from the rest of the world, however, is that we aspire to incorporate GNH not just into the way we do business, but the way we treat our staff, and the way we take care of our guests.
    • Hotel Zhiwa Ling is aiming not only to make the hotel’s approach to the environment ‘greener’ but to bring the aspirations of a GNH society a little closer to reality by working with, and listening to, the people we deal with and rely on daily.
GNH Principles of Zhiwa Ling
Zhiwa Ling focuses mainly on these 3 domains of GNH:
  • Greening our busines
    • Energy efficiency measures.
    • Water Conservation.
    • Zero waste.
    • Green purchasing.
    • Biodiversity & wildlife conversations.
  • Philanthropy vitality
    • Community support projects such as the green clean village.
    • Supporting new projects that generate incomes for local communities, developing a business reusing plastics to weave baskets and sell.
  • Human development
    • Staff welfare and growth.
    • Customer learning opportunities.
    • Learning to be GNH practitioners.
Our Vision

To lead the way to happiness with world class service and our commitment to Bhutanese values

Our Mission

To be the most innovative Bhutanese company in our commitment to excellence, providing genuine and authentic service with personal touch

Sustainability Mission
Core Values
  • Innovation
  • Excellence
  • Integrity
  • Teamwork
  • Awards
    • Leading Eco Friendly Resort Bhutan by South Asian
      Travel Awards, 2018.
    • Leading Eco Friendly Resort Bhutan by South Asian
      Travel Awards, 2019.
  • Corporate Social Responsibility Programs (CSR)
    Waste management
    • Zhiwa Ling practices waste segregation from the source.
    • We practice 3 Rs of waste management, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and an incredible 98% of all waste is now recycled on-site.
    • Druk Clean based in Paro also help collect recyclables from the hotel.
    • The bio-degradable compostable kitchen wastes are composted on-site and other food wastes are donated to the local pig farms.
    • We use of eco-friendly in-room amenities and avoid packaged mini-bar items.
  • Energy conservation practice through use of greener and cleaner technologies
    • We use energy efficient smoke-free generator Kirloskar.
    • The entire property is illuminated with LED lights which helped in reducing energy consumption by 50%.
    • All the outdoor lightings have pre-settable timer for automatic light on-off control.
  • Water conservation and management
    • On campus sewage treatment plant for treating wastewater as thoroughly as possible, which is then used for watering gardens and lawns.
    • Record water usage per room per day in order to have effective control over water usage.
  • Carbon management for a carbon neutral business
    • Improve vehicle fuel efficiency by using the Push- and Pull approach where Push-measure discourages private car use, while Pull-measure incentivize travel alternatives to the car, for example by improving hotel transportation.
    • Seek out for hybrid vehicles with two distinct types of power.
    • Use electric battery operated golf cart buggy.
    • Encourage tree plantation campaigns.
    • Organic onsite vegetable garden.
    • Promote greenhouse cultivation.
    • Produce our own organic jams and marmalades.
  • Green purchasing Policy
    • We focus on increasing the number of purchases sourced from the local suppliers.
    • We have established purchasing policies that reduce the amount of packaging brought into the company by using re-useable vegetable crates.
    • We always consider products and equipment that have minimal environmental impact such as compostable packaging and bio-degradable garbage bags.
  • Community
    • Participate in mass cleaning campaigns in harmony with the local community.
    • Linens that are in good condition are donated to the hospitals and Lhakhangs.
    • Source herbs, greens and fruits from the community and mineral water from Paro 8 in order to support the local community.