The old Silk Road has been visited by an increasing number of backpackers in recent years, but it is only slowly being added to the itinerary of mainstream tourists due to communications bottlenecks and lack of infrastructure, experts say.

The Silk Road, which started in China's ancient Chang'an (today's Xi'an) and ended in Rome, covered 6,440 kilometers and served as the link between civilizations in ancient Europe and Asia. Over thousands of years, nomads, traders, religious figures, diplomats, soldiers and scholars left their footprints on the Silk Road.

And now regional authorities are teaming up to encourage more tourists to travel the road as well.
Tourism development was the subject of a report issued by the Academy of Sciences in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. The city is hosting first Euro-Asia Economic Forum.

The report said the route, which connects more than 100 cities in 40-plus nations, is beset by many problems, including the lack of reliable infrastructure, uneven economic growth in nations and regions along the road and differences among them in terms of tourism development.

Moreover, the report said, some areas along the route are troubled by "terrorist, separatist and extremist forces."

"Complicated customs declaration formalities, low efficiency in the procedures caused by artificial barriers and the ensuing complaints among tourists have been impediments to development," said Professor Ma Yaofeng, a tourism expert at Shaanxi Normal University based in Xi'an.

H. Varma, a representative of the World Tourism Organization, believes the road boasts huge market potential.

"If nations along the route join hands in better using the current tourism products and developing new products, the Silk Road's glamor will show up eventually," Varma said.

Said Barry Cable, who is in charge of tourism and communications at the UN Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific, "The United Nations approved a program of sustainable development for tourism in Asia in 1999. In particular, the agreement on construction of an expressway web in Asia is expected to encourage nations along the Silk Road to team up in using resources, improving customs declarations and boosting driving travel."

(Eastday.com November 12, 2005)