President Mirziyoyev Confirmed on October 22, 2026 That the First Phase of Gelon Opens by January 1, 2027. Here Is What the $300 Million All-Season Resort in Shahrisabz Will Actually Include
Uzbekistan has one purpose-built mountain resort today. Soon it will have a second, and the ambition behind it is far larger.
On October 22, 2026, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev told a meeting on Kashkadarya Region’s socioeconomic development that the first phase of the Gelon mountain resort will open in 2027.
Gelon is a $300 million all-season international resort in Shahrisabz District, built with Tatarstan partners. If you ski, or plan trips around fresh terrain, this is the project to watch. New resorts bring new lift access, new hotel stock and better prices before a destination becomes well known.
From a Kazan Agreement to a 2,900-Hectare Tourist Zone
The plan started well before the announcement. In October 2023, preliminary agreements were signed at the Russia-Uzbekistan Interregional Cooperation Forum in Kazan with Kazanskie Kanatnye Dorogi and architectural bureau Gordeev.
A presidential decree in December 2024 established the 2,900-hectare tourist zone for 30 years. The three-stage project runs from 2024 to 2030.
Phase one carries a $100 million budget and targets completion by January 1, 2027. Phases two and three add $200 million more. By June 2026, the Tourism Committee said design work was nearly complete, which is why the opening date now reads as a schedule rather than a wish.
Phase one delivers a 5.9-kilometre gondola, four ski slopes, 35 villas, a four-star hotel, a visitor centre, a restaurant, a multi-level car park and a helipad.
The full build-out plans roughly 100 kilometres of ski slopes, 23 kilometres of cableways and 26 runs, plus three additional hotels (75 villas in total), an observation tower, a zipline and a sky park.
Fully operational, Gelon expects to host 13,000 tourists simultaneously and create over 4,000 jobs.
Roads, Utilities and Six Mountain Villages
A resort is only as good as the road that reaches it. A separate 280.6 billion soum programme funds road and utility upgrades:
– a 21-kilometre road from Gissarak to Gelon
– a 12-kilometre road to Sarchashma
– electricity, water and sewage improvements
Mirziyoyev also ordered a unified tourism master plan for six mountain villages, Gelon among them, with $50 million in projects starting March 1, 2027. The other villages will host ethno-tourism and rafting, so this is not being shaped as a ski-only zone.
The president said Kashkadarya can attract 6 million tourists annually. The region has already drawn 2.5 million visitors since January 2026, and 500,000 of them visited Gelon village alone before the resort opens.
Gelon or Amirsoy: Which One Should You Book?
For travellers, Gelon becomes Uzbekistan’s second major purpose-built mountain resort after Amirsoy, which opened in 2019 near Tashkent and offers 10 groomed trails and a gondola roughly 65 kilometres from the capital.
Gelon opens a new corridor in southern Uzbekistan, about 80 kilometres south of Samarkand in the historically significant Shahrisabz area. That lets you combine mountain days with a historic city stay, something the Tashkent-side resort cannot match.
The practical takeaway: Gelon is planned for longer trips, with 26 runs against Amirsoy’s 10, while Amirsoy still wins on ease of access from the capital. Watch for the phase-one opening announcement and early-season rates before international crowds find it.