Yangzhou Slender West Lake ticket hearing tomorrow, proposed to adjust from 60 yuan to 120 yuan
Travelers' view of China's beauty
“A family of three on a trip—just one attraction pass can easily cost one or two hundred yuan, equivalent to most people’s two days’ salary, not to mention additional expenses on food and transportation. It’s really not something you can do just because you feel like it.” With the May Day holiday just around the corner, following the news during the Qingming Festival about “price hikes at some domestic attractions,” comes another announcement: over the next few months, more than 20 well-known scenic spots across the country will raise their ticket prices, with increases ranging from 20% to 60%.
Why are so many attractions raising prices all at once? It turns out, it’s because “the time has come”: this year marks the second “three-year lifting period” under the National Development and Reform Commission’s rule that scenic spot ticket prices be adjusted every three years.
Price hikes announced suddenly
From 60 yuan to 120 yuan—Yangzhou Slender West Lake to re-price tickets
Recently, the Yangzhou Price Bureau issued a notice, announcing a public hearing on April 27 (today) for the “re-determination of the base ticket price for the Slender West Lake Scenic Area.” The current ticket price for Slender West Lake was set on March 1, 2006. The existing base ticket price is 60 yuan per person, with peak-season (March, April, May, September, October, November) prices set at 90 yuan. According to the hearing notice, Slender West Lake now hopes to reset the ticket price to 120 yuan per person.
Regarding the reason for the sharp jump from 60 yuan to 120 yuan, Slender West Lake explained that the hearing is not about “raising prices” but rather “reassessing the ticket price.” In other words, starting from scratch and reassessing all facilities anew. The pricing authorities echoed the same explanation.
It is reported that since 2006, Slender West Lake has been rapidly expanding. The visiting area has grown from less than 1,000 mu to nearly 3,000 mu—more than doubling in size. Management at the scenic area believes that the base ticket price for Slender West Lake has remained at the 2006 standard. Before this reassessment, it was already the lowest among similar 5A-level scenic spots in East China, and even with the adjustment to 120 yuan, it would still only be in the mid-to-lower range.
Wanting to raise, but hard to raise
Some scenic spots in Nanjing also want to raise prices, but won’t be able to this year
Scenic spots in Nanjing have remained “quiet.” An insider from one attraction told the Yangzi Evening News that currently, ticket prices for Nanjing tourist sites are relatively low nationwide. With operational costs continuously rising in recent years, many would indeed like to increase prices, but the pricing authorities are quite strict. “The approval process is lengthy, and even if approval is granted now, plus the six-month public notice period, implementation would likely not happen until next year at the earliest.”
The insider analyzed that from the perspective of “tourist attractions,” ticket prices for Nanjing’s famous sites are actually very low. “For example, the Presidential Palace is just 40 yuan, while the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and Plum Blossom Hill are both free.”
This year, some parks in Nanjing have temporarily raised ticket prices, but the increases have been minimal. For instance, during the European Flower Exhibition from late March to late April, the North Garden of Zhongshan Botanical Garden increased its ticket price from 15 yuan to 22 yuan. From April 1 to May 15, during the Peony (and Paeonia) Exhibition, the ticket price at Gulin Park rose from 10 yuan to 12 yuan.
A division chief at the Provincial Price Bureau in charge of scenic spot ticket pricing told reporters that, generally speaking, the process for a scenic spot to apply for a price hike is quite long. “First, there’s the process of argumentation and cost supervision, which takes a long time. And even after it’s decided that a price adjustment can proceed, according to national regulations, there must also be a six-month public notice period. Therefore, from the time an attraction submits an application to when the price change actually takes effect, it often takes one or two years or even longer.” The official also revealed that, for example, the Yangzhou Slender West Lake ticket price hearing scheduled for tomorrow—“I heard as early as two years ago in Yangzhou that they had applied for an adjustment.”