On a warm morning earlier this year, Bhutan's king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, stood in a sunlit clearing deep in the jungle in the southern city of Gelephu, near the border with India.

Along with 12,000 volunteers, the monarch cut down palm trees and raked undergrowth to help prepare the ground for a new airport that promises to change the way travelers visit this remote kingdom.

Scheduled to open in 2029, Gelephu International Airport has already won the Future Project of the Year award at the 2025 World Architecture Festival.

Its terminal is carved from Bhutanese wood, designed to regulate humidity naturally and evoke the mountainous landscapes that surround it. There will be spaces for gong baths, yoga and meditation.

However, with a planned capacity of 123 daily flights, its real aim is to serve as a gateway to the ambitious new Mindfulness City of Gelephu (CMG), which seeks to transform the nation and make one of the most difficult to reach destinations much more accessible for international travelers.

An elusive and exclusive kingdom

Hidden within the mountain folds of the highest mountain range on Earth, the world's last Buddhist kingdom spent much of its history as a kind of hermit nation.

It remained largely closed to the outside world for centuries and only began allowing tourists in 1974, when it adopted a “High Value, Low Volume” tourism policy to protect its cultural heritage and guard against mass tourism.

Before the pandemic, most international visitors were required to book through an authorized Bhutanese tour operator and pay a minimum daily rate of between US$200 and US$250, which included accommodation, meals, a guide, internal transportation and the country's sustainable development levy.

Since 2022, this “all-inclusive” rate has been replaced by a Sustainable Development Rate (SDF) of US$100 per adult per night, to which the travel costs must be added, which are separate.

Despite the new airport, Bhutan is determined to maintain its unique model of high-value controlled tourism.

As a result, Bhutan has historically been perceived as an elusive and exclusive destination, and the simple fact of being able to get there is part of its mystique.

Paro, in western Bhutan, has been the country's only international airport, but because only two airlines (Drukair and Bhutan Airlines) operate there and it typically sees about eight flights a day, travelers from North America and Europe have to spend several days in transit with stops in places like Bangkok, Kathmandu and Delhi to get there.

Tickets are not cheap—roundtrip flights from hubs can cost more than $1,200, and landing in Paro is an experience not without drama.

Located at an altitude of 2,243 meters with 5,500 meter mountains rising around it, Paro is considered one of the most difficult airports in the world.

Being in a narrow, winding mountain valley, and since landing and takeoff require multiple tight turns, pilots must make the approach guided entirely by sight, without the aid of radar or computers.

In fact, fewer than 50 pilots are qualified to land there, and the airport received only 88,546 visitors in 2025.

Most tourists landing in Paro follow a well-travelled itinerary to Thimphu, Punakha Valley, Phobjikha Valley and Bumthang, each crowned with five-star luxury properties.

Those who arrive by air rarely venture to Bhutan's biodiverse southern swaths.

The new airport will open up the country's wilder, less-visited south to a new wave of travelers and spiritual seekers, and will also serve the CMG, a special administrative region that King Wangchuck hopes will eventually be home to 1,000,000 Bhutanese and foreign residents by 2060.

Gelephu will also have a 69 km rail connection with Assam, India, which will help form the first railway in the country's history.

A new way of seeing Bhutan

The idea of ​​building a major economic and travel hub in Gelephu was conceived by King Wangchuck more than a decade ago, but Covid-19 was the catalyst.

During the pandemic, the country was practically closed until September 2022, which sank its tourism industry and worsened an exodus of young people that was already underway.

By developing an independent city within the kingdom that combines favorable incentives for international businesses with a priority on sustainability and spirituality, Bhutan, famous as the country that measures Gross National Happiness, hopes the GMC will not only create jobs and attract investors, but also attract travelers beyond the familiar Western circuit to its less-visited south.

“The CMG will create a lot of employment and investment opportunities,” Lotay Tshering, who was prime minister of Bhutan during the pandemic and is now the governor of the CMG, told BBC Travel.

“But we must have flights that arrive… we must have passengers,” he adds.

When completed, the new airport is expected to become the country's main air hub.

“We envision Gelephu as a stopover for international visitors,” added Tshering Dolkar, the region’s tourism director.

“Instead of flying through Hong Kong or Bangkok, travelers will opt to fly through Gelephu and spend a few days on a jungle safari or in meditation.”

Wildlife, mountain routes and other charms

The Bhutan that visitors will see in Gelephu is a far cry from the monastery-topped cliffs or wind-blown prayer flags for which the kingdom is famous.

It is lush, fragrant and subtropical; Imagine cardamom fields and orange groves, as well as farmlands crisscrossed by rivers, palm trees and hot springs that have delighted the Bhutanese for generations.

Two national parks flank Gelephu, including the country's first, Royal Manas National Park, where travelers will soon be able to come face-to-face with elephants, tigers, rhinos, clouded leopards, golden langurs and more than 360 species of birds.

Among them is the white-bellied heron, a critically endangered species, whose half of the world's population resides in Bhutan.

“Southern Bhutan, where mountains give way to jungle, is a hidden sanctuary to the natural world,” said Matthew DeSantis, founder of luxury travel agency MyBhutan, based in Thimphu.

"The south has become a refuge for endangered species. It is one of the wildest places on our planet."

As with almost everything in Bhutan, the nation is developing Gelephu's tourism infrastructure with spirituality in mind.

Buddhist teachers are being invited to submit proposals for retreat centers and temples to be built in the CMG.

Meanwhile, the Central Monastic Body of Bhutan has proposed a “dzong” (a monastic and administrative fortress) with guest accommodation and spaces for sacred Buddhist dance and study.

Officials hope the new airport will also attract day-trippers.

The recently announced Lotus Born Trail (opening in 2028), a 168 km route near Gelephu, connects subtropical southern Bhutan with its spiritual core.

Beginning in the lowland forests home to golden langurs and one-horned rhinos, the eight-day journey ascends nearly 3,500 meters through rhododendron forests to the alpine ridges of central Bhutan, following in the footsteps of Guru Rinpoche, a figure credited with introducing Buddhism to the country.

Elsewhere, instead of the high mountain treks usually associated with Bhutan, rafting activities, bird watching experiences and a recently opened tiger trail are offered within the Royal Manas National Park.

Instead of luxury accommodations, there are local homestays and eco-camps. Additionally, in 2024, Bhutan's first high-end fly fishing lodge also opened its doors in Manas.

According to Dolkar, a revitalization of Gelephu's old town is also underway, with a culinary project planned and inspired by the diverse cultures of southern Bhutan.

He said travelers will be able to find platters of thali and dal from the Lhotshampa, inhabitants of the south, alongside spicy dishes such as ema datshi (the country's iconic chili and cheese stew).