Reporters who have visited multiple scenic areas in Shandong over the past few days learned that, against the backdrop of free highway tolls for passenger cars during this year’s National Day holiday, most scenic spots generally predict a significant increase in self-driving tourists, with some even expressing concern over unpredictable “parking difficulties” during the golden week.
Concerns: Huge gap between parking supply and demand
Many citizens planning to travel by car during the holiday are worried that parking spaces at scenic spots are limited—will they arrive at popular destinations only to find nowhere to park? Some scenic areas also issue non-standardized parking receipts. Recently, reporters visited several 5A and 4A-level scenic spots, and except for the Laoshan Scenic Area, all charged between 10 and 15 yuan for private car parking. The Qufu and Mengshan tourism areas stipulate a flat rate of 10 yuan for unlimited parking time. Tai Mountain Fantawild Adventure specifies that the first 1-4 hours of parking are free, while parking from 4 hours up to the full day costs 5 yuan.
Zhou, manager of Tai Mountain Fantawild Adventure, told reporters that parking spaces become tight during the golden week. Some nearby villagers, seeing this as a “lucrative opportunity,” have set up unauthorized parking lots and charge as much as 30 or even 50 yuan, which has drawn strong complaints from tourists. This year, Tai’an has designated qualified organizations to establish additional parking lots, which are expected to help alleviate the chaotic parking situation.
Chen Guozhong, director of the Shandong Tourism Planning and Design Research Institute, said there is currently no national standard dictating how many parking lots a scenic area should have. However, it is required to meet the “median” or “higher-end” forecasted visitor volume. In reality, the actual operation of golden weeks in recent years shows that the number of parking spaces at scenic spots is increasingly falling short of real demand.
Response: Nearby villages to serve as parking areas
Reporters who have driven to visit popular scenic spots across the province such as Dongping, Qufu, Linyi, and Qingdao recently found that, on the eve of the National Day holiday, various scenic areas are rushing to build or open new parking lots.
To prepare for the National Day holiday, the Laoshan Scenic Area has newly designated three areas that can accommodate an additional 1,500 vehicles. “With the national policy of free highway tolls for passenger cars this year, we predict a significant increase in the number of private cars visiting Laoshan. In previous golden weeks, we accommodated around 3,000 private cars at most, but this year we expect to exceed 5,000,” said Lin Xiaoen, director of the office at the Dahe East Customer Service Center of Laoshan.
Linyi’s Mengshan scenic area didn’t have much of a parking problem in previous years, but it may become tight this National Day. Chen Yong from the Management Committee’s Tourism Bureau said that during the holiday, they will deploy teams to highway exits and key road junctions to guide tourists. The scenic area currently has over a thousand marked parking spaces, but during peak times, roads and villages around the mountain will also serve as parking areas, which can handle the parking needs of about 5,000 vehicles per day.
Han Fengju, deputy director of the Qufu Cultural Relics and Tourism Bureau, said that besides managing several major parking lots within the urban area, they will also open a temporary parking lot in front of the Confucius Temple during the National Day holiday to ease parking pressure. The most intense parking pressure is expected on October 2, 3, and 4.
Suggestion: Locals should “make space” for tourists
On the 25th, reporters met Qingdao resident Song Zhijie, who had just finished hiking in the Laoshan Scenic Area. “During the long holiday, locals should proactively make urban space available for tourists and try to reduce unnecessary car trips,” Song said.
Qufu has decided to ban tourist buses with more than 19 seats from entering the urban area during the holiday. Tourists will be required to transfer to buses outside the city to access the scenic areas. Tourist vehicles with 19 seats or fewer will be allowed to pass through but not park. Scenic areas such as Mengshan and Laoshan have decided to prohibit private cars from driving on mountain-loop roads, reserving limited traffic resources for tour buses. Laoshan has also decided to register all vehicles belonging to villagers and business owners along the “Laoshan Road” leading to the mountain hiking entrances, and only those with permits will be allowed entry and exit during the National Day holiday.
Chen Guozhong, the director, said that during major holidays, it is a common global practice for cities to make limited public space available to out-of-town tourists who carry lots of luggage and may not be familiar with the roads. Chen Chong, director of the Shandong Provincial Tourism Bureau, believes that an open, modern city should always maintain an awareness of serving tourists. A city belongs not only to its residents but also to its visitors.