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Following a Chinese saying: To be rich, roads first, high-speed rail (HSR) opening and station construction are indispensable for economic developing. Probing the nexus between HSR, as a vital part of modern transportation system, and local tourism development provides a scan for reviving tourism and gaining low-carbon transition after COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on prefecture-level panel data, this study takes difference-in-difference and instrument variable methods to detect the overall and heterogeneous effects of HSR connection on cities’ tourism development. The results showed that HSR connection had an overall positive effect on cities’ domestic tourist arrivals. The heterogeneity of the effect from HSR to tourism development appears to be that central and western cities, non-resource-based cities, and small cities benefited more from the opening of HSR. From a dynamic perspective, HSR connection promoted local tourism development in the 0 and 1 year of HSR opening but failed to show a positive effect in the long term. Hence, the study proposed some adjustments for evaluating the efficiency of HSR with consideration for the tourism effect, redesigning the system of HSR with consideration for local heterogeneity, and optimizing the HSR environment. These measures can optimize China’s HSR management and the design of HSR systems.