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still in the development stage

the 5-day, 4-night journey departs from xining by train, passes through ta'er temple, qinghai lake, and chaerhan salt lake, and finally arrives in dunhuang. all rooms on the train are equipped with private bathrooms and provide michelin-level catering services. in addition, the train service team includes a professional train steward team, 5 vacation ambassadors, and 2 travel photographers.

this is the official introduction of the "silk road dream" tourist train. correspondingly, its ticket price is quite expensive, ranging from 24,999 yuan to 109,999 yuan. despite this, china news weekly found that on the ticket sales applet, the october sales schedule for this trip was shown as sold out.

the picture shows the "silk road dream". photo/provided by the interviewee

the shortage of "silk road dream" is not an isolated case. in fact, since the summer vacation, ticket sales for high-end train tourism projects such as "new oriental express", "hulunbuir" and "lindu" have been tight. the ticket prices of these trains are all over 20,000 yuan per person, with a small passenger capacity and high-end tourism service experience as the common features.

in recent years, high-end train tours with configurations comparable to those of star-rated hotels have quietly emerged in china and become a new travel option for some people.

"cruise ship on rails"

in recent years, there has been an increasing supply of high-end tourist trains or special tourist trains on the market, but the reviews of the high-end train travel experience have always been mixed.

netizen guangguang once experienced a high-end tourist train project launched by a certain brand, which cost more than 20,000 yuan per person, but she thought that the high tour fee did not bring the expected high-quality service experience. she said that eating and bathing on the train seemed quite hasty, and the itinerary required frequent transfers between trains and buses, which turned the originally expected star-level enjoyment into a tense "special forces"-style tour.

according to her description, the train was converted from a green train, so the noise generated during the train's operation was unavoidable. when she slept on the upper bunk, she could clearly hear the snoring coming from the compartment next door. in addition, in addition to taking the train, most attractions require passengers to transfer to buses. due to the vast geographical area of ​​the destination, it is not uncommon to take a single bus for five or six hours. passengers usually return to the train after 1 to 3 days of sightseeing, so they need to frequently get off the train, transfer to the bus, enter the station to wait for the train, and then get on the train again.

guang guang told china newsweek that she currently has no plans to experience other high-end tourist trains.

of course, not every passenger has the same experience. liu jianbin, ceo of shangchuanba, has taken most of the country’s high-end tourist trains. when he was interviewed by china newsweek, he had just boarded the first train of the “starlight lanmei” tourist train, departing from kunming to laos.

in liu jianbin's view, high-end trains are like "cruise ships on rails". although they are not as spacious as cruise ships, they can reach some unique destinations on land. "once the train was running on the grassland, we drank champagne and had dinner by the window, watching the sunset slowly sink into the grassland, and the afterglow of the sunset was slanting. the feeling at that moment was particularly unforgettable," he said.

liu jianbin travels on a high-end tourist train project. photo/provided by the interviewee

liu jianbin said that in some vast destinations, whether traveling by car or charter, it is inevitable to bring fatigue and inconvenience during the journey. in contrast, train travel provides a relatively relaxing option: tourists can explore to their heart's content during the day and return to the train at night to eat and rest, and the train becomes a mobile hotel.

a high-end travel train restaurant. photo by liu jianbin

"in china, this is still a relatively new way of traveling and a relatively scarce tourist resource. some ticket prices are actually a payment for this scarcity," said liu jianbin.

shanghai xingjing tourism co., ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "xingjing tourism") is the operator of the "silk road dream" and "hulunbuir" tourist trains. the relevant person in charge of xingjing tourism told china news weekly that before the trip, they will set up a "vacation ambassador wechat group" for each group of passengers to communicate before the trip and understand whether the passengers have any dietary taboos. during the trip, there is a professional team of butlers on the train to provide professional services 24 hours a day. if the guests happen to have birthdays or wedding anniversaries during the trip, they will also arrange special celebration ceremonies.

who is paying the bill?

so, who is actually paying for the high train ticket prices?

a person in charge of xingjing tourism told china news weekly that they had done a source statistics on the "hulunbuir". he said that in the two years since the "hulunbuir" was put into operation, tourists from shanghai, beijing and shenzhen ranked in the top three, followed by guangzhou, hangzhou, chengdu and nanjing. among all tourists, young and middle-aged people aged 31 to 45 are the main group of tourists, followed by elderly people over 65 years old. in addition, the number of female passengers is greater than that of male passengers. among the passengers from hong kong, macau and taiwan, the largest number of passengers are from hong kong; among the foreign passengers, the largest number of passengers are from southeast asian countries such as malaysia.

the person in charge also added that the "silk road dream", which only started operating in july this year, is in the summer vacation, and parent-child and family tours are its main customer groups.

the 270-degree view carriage of the silk road dream express. photo/provided by the interviewee

zhejiang huayun culture and tourism group is one of the agents of the "new orient express" and "lindu" tourist trains. luo yan, assistant to the group's chairman, said in an interview with china newsweek that since the travel products supporting high-end tourist trains usually have longer itineraries, there are certain requirements for passengers' vacation time and financial ability.

"the current passenger group of tourist trains is mainly middle-aged and elderly people. this is the result of market selection rather than a deliberate choice by the operator. we also hope to attract more young passengers, but judging from the current data, the proportion is still relatively small," she said.

in addition, china news weekly found that no special planning or adjustment was made for the "silk road dream", "hulunbuir", "lindu" or "new oriental express" around the "national day" holiday. luo yan said that their customer groups are usually not restricted by working hours, and the itinerary of tourist trains is determined by the train schedule, and each train will depart and arrive according to the established schedule.

wei changren, founder of jinlv.com, told china newsweek that most of the high-end train products on the market are currently launched by local railway bureaus and operated in cooperation with relevant cultural and tourism institutions.

he pointed out that in the actual operation of tourist trains, local railway bureaus usually shoulder the heavy responsibility of safe operation of trains, vehicle modification investment and dispatching, while cultural and tourism institutions focus on providing product distribution and high-quality tourism service supply. he believes that this cooperation model can give full play to the professional advantages of both parties.

for example, the "hulunbuir" is jointly operated by china railway harbin bureau group co., ltd. and hulunbuir city; the "silk road dream" is jointly launched by china railway qinghai-tibet group co., ltd. and xingjing tourism; the "new orient express" is built by china railway urumqi bureau group co., ltd., and zhejiang huayun cultural tourism group is one of the agent operators.

can it be profitable?

the degree of cooperation between the railway bureau and the cultural tourism group varies. taking the "new orient express" as an example, the urumqi railway bureau adopted an external bidding method, allowing multiple cultural tourism groups to participate in the bidding. after each company successfully bids, it will obtain the operating rights of a specific period. of course, this also means that the operating schedule of the "new orient express" throughout the year may be undertaken by multiple different operators in sections or alternately.

luo yan told china newsweek that huayun culture and tourism group accounts for approximately 70% of the operating share of the "new oriental express" throughout the year.

however, an industry insider told china news weekly that the existence of multiple operators means that it is difficult for them to provide completely consistent service standards. if an operator does not plan for long-term operation and is too focused on short-term benefits, it may choose low-priced hotels or lower service standards to cut costs and increase profits. this behavior not only harms the vital interests of tourists, but also has a negative impact on the entire tourist train.

for passengers, there is a certain degree of uncertainty in the experience because they cannot be sure which company's operating flight they purchased. this has also led to mixed reviews of the "new oriental express" product in the market.

at the same time, whether such high-end tourist trains can make profits has also become one of the focuses of public attention. it is understood that the profitability of such trains is closely related to many factors, among which the occupancy rate is a crucial indicator.

a person in charge of xingjing tourism told china news weekly that the "hulunbuir" tourist train has an average occupancy rate of 80% in the two years since it was put into operation between harbin and hailar. the "silk road dream" tourist train has also had an average occupancy rate of 75% in more than two months since it was officially launched on july 6 this year, becoming a "net-famous train" that tourists are eager to check in.

luo yan also said that both "orient express" and "lindu" have achieved profitability. "orient express definitely lost money in the first year because it had just entered the market and needed to invest a certain amount of marketing and promotion expenses, but it also achieved profitability very quickly."

she pointed out that for such high-end tourist trains, empty seats are a considerable pressure for any operator. "our cooperation with the railway bureau is based on the charter of the entire train, which means that regardless of whether these seats can be sold in the end, we must pay the railway bureau the full ticket price as agreed."

for the railway bureau, the issue of profitability is an economic account that requires long-term consideration.

the renovation of high-end tourist trains requires huge investments. for example, the new orient express took a year to renovate its body, costing 48 million yuan, and the soft furnishings cost 2 million yuan, with the overall renovation cost exceeding 50 million yuan. the high renovation costs put the train under tremendous financial pressure in the early stages of operation.

however, luo yan believes that when evaluating profits, the railway bureau cannot just look at the train renovation costs, but needs to comprehensively consider the economic benefits at the macro level, including the role of tourist flow brought by tourist trains in boosting the local economy.

she also mentioned that, generally speaking, the expected service life of such high-end tourist trains is 8 to 10 years, during which the trains will inevitably face asset impairment issues such as depreciation. therefore, operators must carefully plan the operating life of the trains to ensure maximum economic benefits during the effective operating period.

homogeneous competition pressure

high-end tourist trains have a history of hundreds of years abroad, with a mature market and high public acceptance. however, in china, it is still in its infancy and is currently in the consumer cultivation stage.

wei changren pointed out that according to current market feedback, the overall evaluation of high-end tourist trains on the market is acceptable, but there is still significant room for improvement, mainly in two aspects: one is the on-board service. since passengers will naturally compare the high-end tourist train services with the standards of five-star hotels, improving the service quality on board, including the staff, and optimizing the dining experience have become the direction of evolution; the second is off-board activities and itinerary planning. after the train arrives at the destination, the tourists' off-board activity arrangements and itinerary design need to continue to be improved and innovated to better meet the expectations and needs of passengers.

liu jianbin also pointed out that travel is essentially a comprehensive experience, and the ticket price of high-end travel trains actually covers all services inside and outside the train. even if the services inside the train can reach a high level, the supporting level of services outside the train is often difficult to maintain consistency. for example, some tourist attractions are significantly affected by the off-season and peak season. during the peak season, even if consumers are willing to pay higher fees, it is difficult to ensure the corresponding service quality.

the relevant person in charge of xingjing tourism also pointed out that the practical challenge facing high-end tourist trains at present is that it takes a certain amount of time for the market to accept this type of "new product", and because there have been no similar products in the domestic market in the past, there is still a long way to go in terms of product design and how to create just the right "high-end feeling".

it is worth noting that with the continuous development of the tourism market, passengers' demand for tourist trains is becoming increasingly diversified. wei changren pointed out that in the near future, most major tourist provinces are expected to launch corresponding mid- to high-end tourist train services to meet market demand.

luo yan also mentioned that there are currently several mid-to-high-end trains that are in the stage of renovation and upgrading or are about to be released. for example, new trains will be launched in shenyang and yunnan.

she believes that as the number of mid- to high-end tourist trains increases, consumers will have more choices and can enjoy quality services at more reasonable prices. "when there are multiple tourist trains for consumers to choose from, the pricing power will gradually shift to the market," luo yan said.

of course, as more and more high-end tourist train projects flood into the market, operators will also face the pressure of homogeneous competition. for example, although the "panda" tourist train launched this year is positioned as mid-to-high-end, its route overlaps with the "new orient express", causing some of the "new orient express" trains to be impacted and empty seats to appear. luo yan believes that this competitive pressure means new challenges for both operators and local railway bureaus.

author: chen shulian