The isolated kingdom of Bhutan is one of the most expensive holiday destinations in the world and a haven for celebrities and the well-heeled. Next year it will become even more costly.

Foreign tourists are required to book through licensed tour operators, who charge a minimum high-season price of $200 per day per person for an all-inclusive package including accommodation, food and transport.

The pristine Himalayan kingdom of snow-capped mountains and gushing mountain streams pursues a policy of “high-end, low-impact tourism”, deliberately keeping out the hordes who might spoil its untouched environment.

From the start of next year, the high-season daily fee will rise to $250 per day per person, meaning a stay in one of the basic hotels as part of the package will cost a travelling couple at least $500 a night. “It may not make economic sense now to be high end, but Bhutan will be preserved for future generations of visitors,” the director general of the Tourism Council of Bhutan, Kesang Wangdi, said.

“If we opened up, our revenue would go through the roof, but at what price? We restrain ourselves from going wantonly along the economic development path without considering the social impact and the environment.”

Nevertheless, next year the council hopes to boost visitor numbers by more than 50 per cent to 100,000 by offering new types of holiday and improving flight links to cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore.