In an effort to increase tourism to remote Daocheng County inGarzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, China, an area known for its sacred mountain peaks and alpine valleys, the Chinese government is currently building the Daocheng Yading Airport, which at 14,469 feet (4,410 m) above sea level, will become the world's highest tourism airport.

The airport, likely to cost around $238million, is expected to open later this year and will offer routes through to the western cities of Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming in the south, Guiyang and Xi’an, according to the Telegraph.

It will surpass Bangda Airport of Qamdo Prefecture in Tibet, which previously held the record as the world's highest-altitude airport at 14,219 feet above sea level, according to the Xinhua news agency.

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Currently, travelers have few transportation options to Daocheng, home to the scenicYading Nature Reserve Park, an area so beautiful that it's sometimes called “the last Shangri-la,” reported CNN. Most tourists reach Daocheng from Chengdu via a challenging two-day bus ride.

The new airport will be located just 80 miles (130 km) from the park, according to Xinhua.

The construction is the latest project implemented in Tibet by a Chinese government that hopes to attract one million tourists and raise up to two billion yuan in tourism revenue by 2015, reported the Telegraph.

But the DaochengYading Airport may end up holding the "world's highest" record for a short time. Construction of a new, higher airport in Nagqu, also in Tibet, is scheduled to be completed in 2015, according to Xinhua. That airport will be 14,553 feet above sea level, around 84 feet higher than Daocheng.

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