Growing a Mindful Economy

Plan Your Journey

Your path to December, and everything to arrange along the way.

Participation in Growing a Mindful Economy is by invitation. Your invitation email includes your personal RSVP link; if you have not received one, you can introduce yourself. The dates and the week itself live on the Programme page.

The path

Your path to December

  1. 1

    RSVP

    Open the RSVP link in your invitation email to let us know whether you will attend, and share your attendance dates, travel details, companions and practical needs.

  2. 2

    Complete your registration

    The RSVP leads to your registration form: confirm the portions of the week you will join, choose your experiences, and see and settle your share of the gathering’s shared meals and transport for the days you attend.

  3. 3

    Share your stay preferences

    The registration form asks which hotel options suit you. Once the group’s hotels are confirmed from the most preferred, booking guidance follows, and you book your room directly with the hotel.

  4. 4

    Share your work through MIND, and join the sessions

    After registration, a personal MIND invitation arrives by email — an AI-guided conversation for sharing your work, interests and aspirations. Two online sharing sessions then connect participants before December.

  5. 5

    Receive your welcome packet

    Ahead of travel, registered participants receive a welcome packet with the detailed programme, venues, transfers and day-by-day guidance.

A passenger jet on the apron of a valley airport, with steps against the fuselage and forested hills behind
A whitewashed lodge with timber doors and a pitched roof among misty pines, with a terrace set for a meal

Travel

Getting to Bhutan

All international flights into Bhutan land at Paro International Airport, and only two airlines fly there: Drukair (Royal Bhutan Airlines) and Bhutan Airlines. You will first fly to one of the cities below and connect to Paro from there.

Cities with direct flights to Paro

  • Bangkok, Thailand
  • Delhi, India
  • Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Kolkata, India
  • Singapore
  • Dhaka, Bangladesh
  • Bagdogra, India
  • Guwahati, India

Bangkok, Delhi, Kathmandu and Singapore are usually the easiest connections from Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and East Asia. Some routes run only a few days a week, so check schedules before booking your international flights.

A few things to plan for

  • Flights to Paro operate in daylight only and can be delayed by mountain weather. Allow a generous connection time, and consider a night in your connecting city before flying to Paro.
  • Book your connecting flight to Paro on a separate ticket if needed, but avoid tight connections between the two.
  • December is a busy travel season in Bhutan, so we recommend booking early.
  • Your arrival and departure dates depend on which parts of the week you join; see the dates on the Programme page.

We can help you plan

If you would like help planning your journey, write to us at game@fourthsector.org.bt with where you are travelling from and the days you plan to join. We will suggest a route and put you in touch with our team who can help you plan your journey. Once your travel is confirmed, share your arrival and departure details through your RSVP so the organising team can arrange your airport transfers.

For Bhutanese participants, please indicate which days and shared transport arrangements you would like to join.

Travel

Entry arrangements

If you are traveling from outside Bhutan, entry arrangements depend on your nationality and circumstances. The organising team will provide guidance on the information needed and any applicable charges. Bhutan’s Sustainable Development Fee (SDF) will be waived for GaME participants.

Please share your nationality and travel details in the Registration form and indicate whether your companions will participate in GaME. The organising team will communicate entry arrangements for participants directly.

Stay

Places to stay

A gathering lives partly in its shared roof: we will stay together, at one hotel in Thimphu and one in Paro. The registration form presents the options under consideration — in Thimphu, a secluded retreat and a central hotel close to the gathering’s meals and encounters; in Paro, a Bhutanese resort setting, a contemporary stay and a villa tent — and asks which would suit you best. We will confirm the group’s hotels guided by what most participants prefer, and send booking guidance; you then book your room directly with the confirmed hotel.

Stay

Meals and dining

Meals across the week are hosted moments of the gathering — Bhutanese heritage dining, homely kitchens and an evening around the fire among them. We look forward to sharing each setting with you; the dining programme follows in your welcome packet, with dietary needs gathered through Registration. Where the week offers a choice of dinner venue, the registration form gathers preferences and the confirmed venue is shared in your welcome packet.

A river valley in Bhutan with mist drifting between forested mountain slopes

Costs

What you cover

What is personal, you arrange directly. Flights; your room at the group’s hotel, booked directly with the hotel once it is confirmed; travel insurance; applicable entry costs; and personal choices such as wellness treatments.

What we use together, we share exactly. Your registration payment covers one thing: your portion of the gathering’s shared meals and transport costs, as set out in the registration form.

Everything else the gathering is — its venue, facilitation, experiences and hospitality — is provided through the voluntary offerings of everyone who gathers. The Offerings page explains this shared undertaking.

Preparation

A gift and its story

For the opening ceremony, bring a small, shareable gift from your home or community, together with its story. Tea, sweets or another simple item can introduce something of the place you come from.

Guided by Bhutanese hosts, this contemporary expression of Zhudrey Phuensum Tshogpa invites us to become acquainted through what we each bring. Practical guidance on suitable gifts and travel requirements will be shared before the gathering.

A monk in maroon robes pours from a flask on a stone terrace above the clouds while a woman sits nearby with a cup of tea

Preparation

Accompanying guests

You are welcome to come accompanied. The people who share your life are welcome at the gathering — partners, children, parents, companions — and we are glad to help you plan their days. A mindful economy holds work and life whole, and the week is shaped in that spirit: guests may join as full participants, or join for some shared meals and cultural experiences, with the chance to explore Bhutanese experiences or simply enjoy unhurried time.

Preparation

Health and comfort

Please share accessibility, dietary or health needs in the Registration form so we can plan your participation with care. Walking demands and practical details will be provided for the experiences you choose.

For international participants, the organising team will share guidance on preparing for the climate, altitude and travel arrangements. Please consider suitable travel insurance and seek individual medical advice if needed.

Preparation

Good to know

Language
Dzongkha is Bhutan’s national language. English is widely used in public institutions and tourism.
Currency
Bhutanese ngultrum, shown as BTN or Nu.
Payments
Payment details for your participation will be shared during registration. Please ask the team about practical arrangements for personal spending.
Time zone
Bhutan Time, UTC+6.
Local guidance
The team will share information about dress, visits and participation in cultural or religious settings ahead of the gathering.

If you don’t yet hold an invitation, introduce yourself on the Connect page.

Continue: Offerings