On December 3 this year, the China-Laos Railway celebrated its second anniversary.
According to the public data of China State Railway Group, as of December 2, the China-Laos Railway has sent a total of 24.2 million passengers, of which 20.46 million passengers have been sent to the domestic section.
The passenger train of the China-Laos Railway is galloping in Xishuangbanna Prefecture Photo courtesy of China Railway Kunming Bureau Group.
The China-Laos Railway is an important project to connect the Belt and Road Initiative with Laos's strategy of "transforming a land-locked country into a land-linked country", which was completed and opened to traffic on December 3, 2021, with a total length of 1,035 kilometers from Kunming, China in the north to Vientiane, Laos in the south.
In the past two years since its opening and operation, the four prefectures (cities) of Kunming City, Yuxi City, Pu'er City and Xishuangbanna Prefecture in Yunnan Province along the domestic section of the China-Laos Railway have actively seized good opportunities, accelerated the layout and development of the cultural and tourism industry with the construction of tourist cities as the engine, and realized the maximization of the first-class line effect and the leapfrog development of the tourism economy.
Relevant statistics show that in the two years since its opening, the monthly passenger volume of the China-Laos Railway has increased from more than 600,000 passengers at the beginning of its opening to more than 1.1 million passengers at present.
Kunming is becoming more and more "international".
Since the opening of the China-Laos Railway, Kunming, the spring city of Kunming, as the starting station city of the domestic section, has ushered in a period of rapid tourism development.
In 2022, Kunming will be on the list of the top 10 cities in the country for popular summer travel destinations, ranking third. According to the Kunming Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, in the summer of 2022, Kunming received a total of 56.33 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 6030%, an increase of 7556%；The total tourism income is 6975.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5145%, an increase of 3465%。
On April 13 this year, the China-Laos Railway International Passenger Train was opened from Kunming South Railway Station and Vientiane Station in both directions, and the train between Kunming and Vientiane was reached on the same day, making "eating rice noodles in Kunming in the morning and drinking coffee in Vientiane in the evening" a reality, and Kunming's "international style" became more and more apparent.
On July 25, China Railway Kunming Bureau Group implemented a new train schedule, and the whole running time of the international passenger train of the China-Laos Railway was compressed from the previous 10 hours and 30 minutes to 9 hours and 26 minutes, reducing the whole journey by 64 minutes.
Since the beginning of this year, the rapid recovery and vigorous development of Kunming's cultural and tourism market are obvious to all. In May, Kunming was listed as one of the "Top Ten Cities for Tourism" and won the title of "China's Better Life City" for the fourth timeIn June, Kunming was on the list of "2023 Summer Tourism Preferred Destinations";During the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day "Double Festival" holiday, Kunming received a total of 1283 tourists750,000 person-times, a year-on-year increase of 221 on a comparable basis55%；Achieve a comprehensive tourism income of 1378.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 350 on a comparable basis95%。
The flowers continue to bloom in spring, and it is suitable to avoid the cold and the heat. Nowadays, the warm sun of Kunming is shining in winter, the seagulls are fluttering on the shore of Dianchi Lake, and every weekend, there is an endless stream of citizens and tourists who go to the Haigeng Dam to watch the gulls and feed the gulls.
Tourists take the passenger train of the China-Laos Railway to experience "there is a life called Yunnan," photo by Zhu Zheng.
Yuxi holiday tourism continues to heat up
After the opening of the China-Laos Railway, Yuxi City has ushered in the "highlight moment" of the rapid development of leisure tourism, holiday tourism and weekend tourism by virtue of the advantage of only about 1 hour's drive from Kunming.
Seizing the opportunity of the opening and operation of the China-Laos Railway, Yuxi City firmly grasped the Spring Festival holiday, the "May Day" holiday, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day "Double Festival" holiday, focusing on the six elements of "eating, living, traveling, traveling, shopping and entertainment", organizing and carrying out a variety of cultural and tourism activities, through advance publicity, shaping and promoting the brand image of Yuxi holiday tourism, enhancing market visibility and influence, and the city's "holiday economy" continued to heat up.
According to data from the Yuxi Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, during this year's Spring Festival holiday, Yuxi City received a total of 2.4 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 1964%；During the May Day holiday, the city received a total of 1.78 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 238%.During the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day "Double Festival" holiday, the city received a total of 2.37 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 9593%。
From January to October this year, Yuxi City received 3,880 domestic tourists770,000 person-times, a year-on-year increase of 1548%, achieving tourism income of 4123.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2486%；The growth rate of the turnover of accommodation units above designated size reached 371%；From January to September (staggered monthly indicators), the city's 8 cultural, sports and entertainment enterprises above designated size achieved operating income of 10,37390,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18574%, ranking second in the province.
Since the beginning of this year, Yuxi City has made great efforts to create a tourism IP of "Leisure Yuxi Pure Land", and launched five themed boutique tourism routes, such as "Water Tour", "Research Tour", "Red Tour", "Homesickness Tour" and "Food Tour", by connecting many tourism resources and characteristic tourist attractions such as green and beautiful landscapes, characteristic towns, and cultural experiences, and continued to polish the "leisure tourism" brand, the per capita consumption of cultural tourism in the city exceeded 1,000 yuan, and the city's cultural and tourism industry has run out of high-quality development "acceleration" in the reshaping of the pattern and industrial reconstruction.
With the strong support and empowerment of the China-Laos Railway, Yuxi City is making every effort to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the city's industrial economy, including the cultural and tourism industry, and promote the transformation of Yuxi's industrial economic pattern from "economic channel" to "channel economy", and from "passing economy" to "landing economy".
Pu'er "Railway + Tourism" is booming
In the past two years, the first major channel of the China-Laos Railway has brought popularity, wealth and heat to the construction of Pu'er tourist city.
Pu'er has beautiful natural scenery, rich ethnic customs, unique cultural landscapes and profound historical heritage. Since the opening of the China-Laos Railway, Pu'er City has aimed at the development direction of ecology, internationalization, high-end and characteristics, grasped the ecological advantages, and made every effort to strengthen the cultural tourism industry.
After the opening of the China-Laos Railway, it will only take more than 2 hours from Pu'er to Kunming, and only 40 minutes from Pu'er to Xishuangbanna, which greatly shortens the travel time, creates better transportation conditions for the high-quality development of Pu'er cultural tourism, and realizes a new development model of "railway + tourism". Pu'er has become an important transportation hub connecting Kunming-Xishuangbanna and even Southeast Asia, and has also promoted the construction of a tourist city.
Every holiday, the railway stations along the Pu'er section of the China-Laos Railway will usher in a peak of passenger flow. Since the beginning of this year, Pu'er, as a popular tourist "check-in place", has attracted tourists to "left-hand coffee and right-hand tea".
During the May Day holiday, the cultural and tourism activities of Pu'er city are closely related to the theme of "Millennium Tea Rhyme, One City Coffee Fragrance, Out-of-print Pu'er, and Taste Romance", and the "Landscape Fairy Tale" Night Market of Pu'er Central City Coffee Tour, the Ancient City of Tea Horse "Wearing the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty" Exhibition and Mojiang International Twin Festival, Meng Lianna Yunshen Fish Festival and other cultural and tourism activities are popular, and the city has received a total of 143 tourists820,000 person-times, achieving a total tourism income of 138.8 billion yuan, both hit a record high in the same period in history.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day "Double Festival" holiday, Pu'er City further grasped the major opportunity of Jingmai Mountain's successful application for World Heritage Status, and the city received a total of 186 tourists900,000 person-times, a year-on-year increase of 5079%, achieving a total tourism income of 167.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10254%。In particular, Lancang County, which has the world's first tea-themed world cultural heritage site, Jingmai Mountain, and Simao District, which is the main carrier of the city's tourism city construction, have achieved "explosive" growth in tourism, realizing the superposition effect of the two major opportunities of the successful application for World Heritage and the opening of the railway.
Xishuangbanna continues to refresh the peak of passenger flow
Since the opening of the China-Laos Railway, as the "Internet celebrity station" on the largest channel, Xishuangbanna Station has continuously refreshed the peak of passenger flow.
In the past two years, Xishuangbanna Station, located in Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, has become one of the busiest passenger stations on the China-Laos Railway. According to data provided by the Xishuangbanna Prefecture Bureau of Culture and Tourism, as of November 30 this year, Xishuangbanna Station has sent a total of 5.86 million passengers, and the number of passengers has reached 5.47 million.
Tourism is the basic and leading industry in Xishuangbanna. The opening and operation of the China-Laos Railway has ended the history of Xishuangbanna without trains, and is of great significance to the development of local tourism.
In the past two years, Xishuangbanna Prefecture has given full play to the superimposed advantages of tourism resources and transportation location, accelerated the construction of a world famous tourist city relying on tropical rainforests, featuring health and wellness sojourn, and radiating South and Southeast Asia, and boosted the high-quality development of the state's cultural tourism and health care industry to a new level.
Statistics show that in 2022, the added value of Xishuangbanna's tourism industry will account for 18 percent of GDP2%；From January to September this year, the state received 5,409 tourists330,000 person-times, a year-on-year increase of 3791%；Achieved a total tourism income of 7317.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4701%。
In the view of Li Qiang, director of the Xishuangbanna Prefecture Culture and Tourism Bureau, the China-Laos Railway has not only played a positive role in building the largest channel between China and South Asia and Southeast Asia, but also met the needs of cross-border travel and outbound tourism of the majority of tourists in China and Laos after the opening of the international passenger train, which is of great significance to promoting the development of tourism and other industries in the two countries.
Recently, with the introduction of a series of preferential policies for winter and spring tourism in Xishuangbanna, more and more tourists have come to Xishuangbanna for a warm winter, and it is expected that around the Spring Festival, there will be a peak of railway passenger and tourist traffic. Reporter of this newspaper Kong Chuilian.