Martin Li

    martin.mouse@163.com

    EMPLOYEES of tourism agencies in Fujian Province cities sang folk songs, served tea and staged puppet shows to promote their local cultures to passengers on the first train heading from Shenzhen to Xiamen on Saturday, on the new high-speed rail line between the two cities.

    Tourism officials and business owners in Guangdong and Fujian provinces have expressed strong belief that the opening of the new high-speed railway will boost tourism along the line.

    More than 1,200 tourists, in a group organized by the Shenzhen branch of CYTS Tours Guangdong Railway Co., boarded the first high-speed Xiamen-bound train.

    “It took only 10 days for us to see such a large number of applicants for the first train trip. Many people asked us to increase the cap,” said He Dongfang, manager of the Shenzhen branch of CYTS Tours Guangdong Railway Co.

    He said the new railway will encourage people to travel to resorts along the line. Many travel agencies have started planning new trips based on the railway.

    Zhou Xiaoming, outbound trips manager for Fuzhou-based China Travel Service Fujian, said it used to cost 600 yuan (US$98) for a round-trip bus ride between Shenzhen and Xiamen, while round-trip airfare cost almost 2,000 yuan. Zhou said the new railway could significantly cut costs for travelers.

    Zhou said his agency has seen a big increase in the number of people inquiring about trips to Hong Kong and Macao.

    Zhan Yun, a resident of the southern Fujian city of Zhangzhou, said a bus trip to Hong Kong usually leaves Zhangzhou at night and arrives in Shenzhen early the next morning, which is inconvenient and tiring.

    Fujian’s tourism administration said it plans to develop a “tourism circle” including Fujian, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, Xinhua reported Saturday.

    In a recent survey of 3,435 people by Southern Metropolis Daily, 35 percent of respondents said the railway would boost tourism.

    The number of Guangdong tourists traveling to Xiamen during next year’s peak travel seasons could increase by 30 to 40 percent, Fujian’s tourism administration has predicted.

    Tourism administrations in Shenzhen, Chaozhou and Xiamen signed a cooperative agreement in March that could reduce travel prices along the railway.