Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 28th Title: Silver-haired tourism trains stimulate new vitality of the "spring economy"

Xinhua News Agency reporters Fan Xi and Ding Yiquan

At 9:24 on the 28th, Anjing Station in Chengdu, Sichuan. The Y471 "Panda Special Train Shifang" slowly set off and accelerated towards Jianshui, Yunnan. More than 460 tourists started an 8-day in-depth tour in Yunnan. Among them, the proportion of tourists over 60 years old reached 68%.

The picture shows the Y471 "Panda Special Train Shifang" accelerated toward Jianshui, Yunnan on March 28. (Photo provided by Chengdu Bureau of China Railway)

"Spring returns to the earth, everything grows, and the demand for outings is strong. The elderly who focus on 'slow travel' are becoming the 'main force' of spring staggered trips." Li Meiyan, the "panda housekeeper" of the Chengdu Bureau of China Railway, said.

In January this year, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the China Railway Group and other nine departments jointly issued the "Action Plan on Increased Silver-Haid Tourism Trains and Promoting the Development of Service Consumption", which clearly proposed that by 2027, a silver-Haid Tourism Train product system covering the whole country, with diverse routes, rich themes and comprehensive services will be built; in March, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Special Action Plan to Boost Consumption", requiring the active development of anti-aging, silver-Haid Tourism and other industries to release the potential of the silver-Haid Consumer Market.

With the improvement of consumption capacity of the elderly and the change of consumption concepts, the railway department has accurately connected with the tourism needs of the elderly. A series of special tourist trains loaded with silver-haired groups have set off one after another, setting off a wave of silver-haired tourism and stimulating the vitality of the "spring economy".

Train Y461 takes off from Dalian Station in Liaoning to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, running through the land of China; the C3003 "Good Tour of the Yangtze River Delta" silver-haired tourist train is full of passengers, starting a three-day and two-night Tianmu Lake health care tour; the Y858 train leaves Pingdingshan Station and starts a trip to Hubei and Jiangxi provinces; the Y764 "Golden Years·West Yunnan Tour" silver-haired tourist special train brings the spring scenery of Lijiang; the Y950 sets off from Urumqi Station and starts a 12-day spring outing and flower-viewing tour around the north and south Xinjiang...

Since this year, the Chengdu Bureau of the National Railway has launched a route to Guizhou, Yunnan, Shandong and other places, and integrates various transportation modes such as "train + cruise ship" to lead tourists to travel across the ocean to South Korea, with a loading rate of 100%.

The Xinjiang Railway Department has carried out in-depth market research, actively promoted the integrated development of railways and tourism, enriched the supply of the tourism market, and enhanced the welfare of the elderly.

The picture shows tourists taking a photo next to the Y950 tourist train on March 27. This is the first "Silver-haired Tourism Special Train" launched by the Xinjiang Railway Department this year. (Photo provided by the Urumqi Bureau Group Company of the National Railway)

"We highlight the concept of 'slow travel' in product design." Wang Beibei, deputy manager of the Tourism Department of Xinjiang Railway Tourism Development Group Co., Ltd., introduced, "On the one hand, the itinerary is more relaxed in design, tourists rest in the car and enjoy the tour under the car; on the other hand, there are more interactive and participatory activities such as travel photography, afternoon tea, and birthday celebrations to slow down the pace of travel." Yang Ping, deputy director of the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Lincang City, Yunnan, said that the launch of the Silver-haired Tourism Special Train has promoted the development of cultural and tourism, and brought more opportunities for employment and income generation to local governments. "Now many local villagers are engaged in security, commentators and folk actors in scenic spots. The special foods and agricultural products sold by farmers in surrounding villages are also well sold."

"The development of silver-haired tourism trains is of great significance to promoting consumption, stabilizing growth, and benefiting people's livelihood. It can be said to be a 'small incision and big effect'." Kong Dejun, director of the Service and Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, said that tourism train products will effectively connect and integrate the resources of "food, accommodation, transportation, travel, shopping and entertainment" along the route, which will help enrich the supply of tourism services, attract and facilitate the travel of the elderly, and effectively drive the growth of consumption in various places along the route.

Statistics from China National Railway Group Co., Ltd. show that in 2024, the railway department organized a total of 1,860 tourist trains, which was the year with the largest number of launches in previous years, an increase of nearly 50% over 2019. The launch direction is mainly concentrated in popular tourist routes such as Xinjiang, Yunnan, and Heilongjiang, transporting more than 1 million tourists.

"Big data analysis found that elderly tourists account for nearly 80%, and are the main customer base of the railway tourism train market." Zeng Hui, Secretary-General of the Railway Tourism Branch of the China Travel Agency Association, said.

According to the forecast of the China Tourism Research Institute, by the end of 2025, the number of young and healthy elderly people in China with high travel rates and high tourism consumption will exceed 100 million, and the income of silver-haired tourism is expected to exceed one trillion yuan.

Zhu Wenzhong, deputy director of the Passenger Transport Department of China Railway Group, said that the railway department will increase capacity deployment on routes with relatively concentrated silver-haired tourists, increase the efforts to launch tourism trains, and implement open acceptance of tourism trains in non-capacity directions. For hubs and stations with tight capacity, technology will strengthen and optimize transportation organizations and expand the transmission capacity of tourism trains. By 2027, my country plans to complete the design of more than 100 high-quality railway silver-haired tourism routes, create 160 sets of special units for elderly-friendly silver-haired tourism trains, and the scale of silver-haired tourism trains will reach more than 2,500.