Recently, as the peak tourist season approaches, domestic scenic spots have seen a new wave of "price hikes." Many well-known attractions, including the ancient city of Fenghuang, scenic areas in Wuyuan, Jiangxi, Mount Emei in Sichuan, and the Slender West Lake in Yangzhou, have raised their ticket prices, with the highest increase reaching 167%. Netizens lament that scenic spots are becoming increasingly "unaffordable," while experts say that scenic areas should not rely too heavily on ticket revenue.
Scenic spot tickets see a new wave of "price hikes"
With the arrival of Qingming Festival and May Day, spring tourism is heating up, and so are scenic spot ticket prices. A statistic from China News Service's finance channel found that recently, a number of scenic spots, including the ancient city of Fenghuang, scenic areas in Wuyuan, Jiangxi, and Mount Emei in Sichuan, have raised their ticket prices.
Among them, the all-inclusive ticket price for scenic areas in Wuyuan, Jiangxi, has been increased from the original 180 yuan to 210 yuan, a rise of 17%. The peak-season ticket price for Mount Emei in Sichuan has been adjusted from 150 yuan to 185 yuan, an increase of 23%. The ticket price for the Longdong Scenic Area in Zhangjiajie, Hunan, has been adjusted from 80 yuan to 100 yuan, a rise of 25%; the price for Baofeng Lake Scenic Area has been adjusted from 74 yuan to 96 yuan, an increase of 30%; and the price for Dehang Scenic Area has been increased from 60 yuan to 100 yuan, a rise of 67%.
In addition, the Slender West Lake in Yangzhou began implementing a peak-season ticket price of 150 yuan per person starting March 1, an increase of 30 yuan, or 25%. The sightseeing bus in the Juling Scenic Area of Mount Lao in Shandong switched from small vehicles to buses starting April 1, with the price rising from 15 yuan per person to 40 yuan, an increase of 167%.
Netizens lament that scenic spots are becoming increasingly "unaffordable"
In addition to mainland China, scenic spots in places like Hong Kong and Taipei have also joined the price hike trend. Among them, the adult one-day ticket price for Hong Kong Disneyland increased from 399 Hong Kong dollars (about 319 RMB) to 450 Hong Kong dollars (about 360 RMB) starting March 27, an increase of about 13%. The regular admission fee for the National Palace Museum in Taipei rose from 160 New Taiwan dollars to 250 New Taiwan dollars, an increase of 56%.
In addition to direct price increases, several scenic spots have adopted an "all-in-one ticket" system to bundle tickets for sale, which has been criticized as a disguised price hike. Among them, the ancient city of Fenghuang in Hunan implemented a 148-yuan all-in-one ticket system starting April 10. The Songcheng Scenic Area in Hangzhou also adopted an all-in-one ticket pricing system, with the combined admission and performance ticket priced at 280 yuan per person, a 20-yuan increase per person; the ticket price for the Rotten Apple Theme Park was adjusted to 150 yuan per person, a 30-yuan increase.
Faced with direct or disguised price hikes at scenic spots, netizens have lamented that ticket prices are getting more and more expensive, truly making them "unaffordable." A report previously released by the China Tourism Academy showed that 89.2% of netizens believe that scenic spot tickets are "too expensive, and ticket expenses have seriously affected their enthusiasm for travel."
"Ticket economy" should transform into an industry economy
It is worth noting that in September last year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced two batches of scenic spots that lowered their ticket prices. According to statistics, a total of 174 tourist and sightseeing spots across provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities reduced their prices, with an average decrease of about 30%. However, most of the discounted scenic spots were "less popular" ones, with only 14 5A-level scenic spots, such as Mount Wudang, the Three Gorges Dam, Yellow Crane Tower, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, and the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, reducing their prices.
In fact, the ticket prices of domestic scenic spots have long been higher than those of some foreign attractions. According to a report by China Securities Journal on April 1, the basic ticket price for the core area of Zhangjiajie’s Wulingyuan is 245 yuan, while the ticket for the permanent exhibition at the Louvre in France is only 10 euros, and the hiking entry fee for Yellowstone National Park in the United States is just 12 US dollars.
Regarding this, Wang Yanyong, a professor in the Department of Tourism Management at the School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, and director of the Tourism Development and Planning Research Center, said in a recent exclusive interview with China News Service's finance channel that although the domestic tourism industry has been advocating moving away from the "ticket economy" and building a tourism industry chain, the direct economic income from tourism is still given too much weight. Future transformation and upgrading should make full use of the six elements—food, accommodation, transportation, entertainment, shopping, and travel—to transform the ticket economy into an industry economy.