Capacity without passengers: a five-condition framework for converting Silk Road freight corridors into sustainable heritage tourism corridors

A study proposes a five-condition framework to assess the conversion of Silk Road freight corridors into sustainable heritage tourism routes, highlighting that cross-border passenger volume, not freight tonnage, should be a key performance indicator. The framework includes gateway conditions like scheduled services and facilitating factors such as mobility and ticketing integration, alongside heritage accessibility and sustainability safeguards. Applying this to the Trans-Caspian, China-Central Asia, Southern (Iran-Türkiye), and China-Laos Railway corridors, only the Kunming-Vientiane route shows clear signs of conversion, though challenges remain in fully meeting all conditions. Institutional barriers, rather than capital or visa policies, hinder effective conversion in other corridors.

Farmanov, E., Farmanov, U., Zoltán, B., & Dávid, L. D. (2026). Capacity without passengers: a five-condition framework for converting Silk Road freight corridors into sustainable heritage tourism corridors. Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsut.2026.1948903