Tourists wanting to view the magnificent landscape of the Tibet plateau and Yunnan while immersed in six-star extravagance such as spa treatment should be prepared to fork out more than US$1,000 per person per night on board the Tangula Express, the mainland's first luxury domestic tourist train service.
With a soft launch inaugural service planned for spring next year, before the Beijing Olympic Games in August, Tangula Railtours hopes to ride on the tourism boom by starting commercial service after the games.
Josh Brookhart, the chief executive of Shanghai-based Tangula International, said the price for the five-day, four-night service from Beijing to Tibet's capital Lhasa or Lijiang in Yunnan would be comparable with those charged for other international luxury tourist train services.
Tangula International is controlled by former employees of consulting firm McKinsey and investment bankers in the mainland. It owns an indirect 49 per cent stake in Tangula Railtours, a joint venture with state-owned Qinghai-Tibet Railway, operator of the world's highest railway.
Mr Brookhart expected about 70 per cent of its customers initially to come from abroad, but added: 'I wouldn't be surprised if 70 per cent of our customers come from the mainland in five years.'
He said total investment in the service amounted to US$135 million, of which US$84 million would be spent on train cars and the remainder on marketing and working capital.
Tangula International has arranged a bridge loan of at least US$35 million to get the train cars made.