(Yicai Global) July 24 -- The reopening of Duku Highway, also known as the "most beautiful highway in China," has sparked a surge in tourism in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to tourism insiders.

Due to natural factors such as snow and ice in the Tianshan Mountains, the highway that connects the two cities of Karamay and Kuqa only opens for around four months from early June to October every year. This year, after the 561-kilometer highway reopened on June 18, the number of tourists visiting Bayinbulak Swan Lake has risen by two or three times from when the road was closed, Dai Gang, a person in charge of the scenic grassland spot, told Yicai Global. 

From July 1 to mid-July, the number of daily visitors has jumped to around 9,000 from 6,500, and the daily average is around 50 percent higher than in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, Dai added. The highway makes the journey from Urumqi, the regional capital, to Bayinbulak Swan Lake seven hours long instead of the other alternative of 11 hours.

Xia Wei, who is in charge of a hotel in the town of Nalati along the highway, told Yicai Global that since this month, the accommodation has welcomed a great number of families. Over the past 10 days, all rooms have been fully booked and revenue has more than quadrupled from low season. Around 70 percent of the bookings came through on-demand service provider Meituan, he added.

The western region is becoming a tourist hotspot. In the past three years, the number of Xinjiang-based hospitality and lifestyle merchants listed on Meituan and Dazhong Dianping has consistently grown around 30 percent each year. Going online has helped local service providers reach more clients. For example, last month in Xinjiang’s Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, merchants that listed their services online achieved a 60 percent revenue boost from a year ago.

Tourists are on the move again after the pandemic and eyeing domestic destinations. In the first five months of this year, Xinjiang welcomed about 72.7 million tourists, up by 35 percent from a year ago. Revenue surged by three-quarters to CNY62.5 billion (USD8.7 billion), according to official data.

Editors: Shi Yi, Emmi Laine