Lizam Dorji is the CEO of MICE Bhutan and the Grand Winner of the 2026 PATA Face of the Future Award, becoming the first Bhutanese tourism professional to receive the prestigious recognition.
With a career spanning hospitality, event management and tourism, Lizam has built her experience around bringing people together and creating meaningful experiences. Today, she leads MICE Bhutan with a vision to position Bhutan as a distinctive destination for meetings, incentives, conferences, executive retreats and corporate travel.
Her approach combines international event experience with a deep understanding of Bhutan, creating programmes that go beyond conventional corporate gatherings to connect organisations with the country's culture, communities, landscapes and values.
Lizam's career in hospitality and events began in Thailand, where she gained experience in hotel operations, conventions and large scale event management.
Her professional journey has included coordinating events involving international organisations, government delegations and corporate clients. Her experience includes events involving organisations such as the United Nations and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, giving her exposure to the level of planning, protocol and attention to detail required for high profile international events.
Returning to Bhutan, Lizam brought this experience into a destination with enormous potential for MICE travel.
Rather than simply recreating conventional conferences and corporate events in a different setting, her focus has been on developing programmes that make Bhutan itself an integral part of the experience.
A meeting can be followed by Bhutanese archery. A leadership retreat can incorporate meditation or a monastery visit. An incentive programme can bring colleagues together through hiking, rafting, cultural encounters or meaningful community experiences.
It is this combination of professional event management and distinctly Bhutanese experiences that shapes the approach of MICE Bhutan today.
Lizam oversees the development and delivery of corporate events, incentive programmes, executive retreats, conferences, educational journeys and private group experiences across Bhutan.
MICE Bhutan works with organisations from around the world to manage the complexities of bringing groups into the Kingdom, including:
Every programme is designed around the organisation, its people and the purpose of the gathering.
For Lizam, the goal is not simply to bring more corporate groups to Bhutan. It is to demonstrate how the country's culture, environment and philosophy can create a different kind of setting for organisations to meet, connect and think.
In 2026, Lizam was named the Grand Winner of the Pacific Asia Travel Association's PATA Face of the Future Award, becoming the first Bhutanese to receive the recognition.
The award recognises emerging tourism professionals who demonstrate leadership, innovation and a commitment to the responsible development of travel and tourism across the Asia Pacific region.
Lizam was recognised for her work in developing Bhutan's MICE sector while connecting business events with broader cultural, environmental and community impact.
Her recognition represents not only an important personal milestone, but also growing international recognition of Bhutan's potential within the global MICE and business events industry.
Lizam believes that the value of MICE tourism should extend beyond the organisations and delegates attending an event.
Under her leadership, MICE Bhutan has sought opportunities to connect corporate travel with initiatives that contribute to Bhutan's communities, environment and cultural heritage.
This includes sustainability initiatives and collaboration with the Department of Culture on the Museums of Bhutan project, which seeks to support the revitalisation of three nationally significant museums and develop them into vibrant cultural hubs.
MICE Bhutan is actively seeking opportunities to raise funds and build partnerships that can support the revitalisation of these important cultural institutions.
Through initiatives such as these, Lizam hopes to demonstrate how corporate events and international travel can create a positive legacy that continues long after delegates have returned home.
Beyond her work at MICE Bhutan, Lizam contributes to wider conversations about the future of tourism, sustainable destination development and the evolving MICE industry.
In August 2026, she moderated a panel discussion at the PATA Travel Mart 2026 in Kuching, Sarawak, bringing together tourism leaders to discuss the future of travel and the role of the next generation in shaping the industry.
Her growing involvement in regional tourism conversations reflects a broader ambition: to ensure that Bhutan has a meaningful voice in discussions about the future of tourism in the world.
Bhutan offers something increasingly difficult to find in conventional business destinations: space to slow down, reconnect and engage with a place on a deeper level.
For Lizam, this creates an opportunity to rethink what a corporate gathering can achieve.
MICE Bhutan's vision is to establish the Kingdom as a destination where organisations can bring people together with greater purpose, combining professional event delivery with experiences rooted in Bhutanese culture, wellbeing, nature and community.
From intimate leadership retreats to large corporate gatherings, the objective remains the same: to create experiences that are professionally executed, distinctly Bhutanese and genuinely meaningful for the people who take part.
Planning a corporate event, incentive programme, executive retreat or group journey to Bhutan?
Share your objectives, preferred dates and estimated group size with the MICE Bhutan team. Lizam and her team can help develop a customised programme around your organisation and what you hope to achieve in Bhutan.
