By Bin Bing
Translated by Wang Jing
With the coming of the Golden Week of the National Holiday, scenic spots in provinces like Sichuan,Guizhou,Tianjin,Yunnan and Anhui have raised the price of the entrance tickets in succession, with an increase even up to 70% in some provinces. This is the first time that domestic scenic spots raised the price this year. It is also another round of price rising tide since the "price rising prohibision" promulgated by the National Development and Reform Commission last year has been expired. Chinese Version>>
The Golden Week is coming, and the idea of increasing the ticket income through price-rising comes out simultaneously for scenic spots. Once the price of the tickets of scenic spots rose, the public turns nervous, for it is the most direct and sensitive topic of the tourist economy.
It is not odd for the rising of the ticket price. What is odd is that the National Development and Reform Commission stipulated explicitly that scenic spots had no rights to raise the price before the National Holiday on 27th, August this year. Why can the ticket price of these places rise? What makes us feel ridiculous is that all the scenic spots with price rising have all held hearings. On 31st, August, authorized by Kunming Development and Reform commission, the Development and Reform Commission of Shilin County held a hearing, deciding to raise the ticket price of Shilin scenic area from 140 Yuan to 200 Yuan, with an increase up to 40%. The scenic spot of Mount Tianzhu, Anhui province, has held the hearing and the ticket price of busy season will probably rise from 120 Yuan to 150 Yuan. The administration of Commodity Price of Guangde County held a hearing in September, and the ticket price of Taiji Hole, the 4A National scenic area, will rise from 60 Yuan to 90 Yuan.
Why is the result of hearings price-rising? The reason is simple. Because the hearings are only their properties and the representatives attending the hearings are "planed" beforehand, it is natural that rising is the certain destiny.
Scenic spots should be of public welfare. However, scenic spots under the tide of price-rising have long become the heaven of the wealthy and tourism with government expenses, having nothing with civilians. There is no need for us to compare it with ticket price of scenic spots in foreign countries and our incomes, this has long go beyond the dimension of "matching with global standard". Actually, our scenic spots have long dumped public welfare.
There is one problem that we have to face. That is the excuse which scenic spots take to rise the price is the unbearable "heavy costs". However, the fact is in a reverse way. Take Mount Huang for example, only about one tenth of the annual ticket income is used to protect the scenic spot. We get nothing about whose pocket the income after price-rising gas gone to.
The ticket of West Lake is free and the Guangzhou Administration of Commodity Price has also issued the notification that scenic spots priced or managed by the government must give a twenty percent discount for the tickets and the ticket price after discount should be rounded down. (22nd, September, Jinyang Web) But why does the ticket price of so many scenic spots intend to rise? Do not they know they will get a higher income without any price-rising? Actually, scenic spots calculate so accurate that they know the price-rising will bring a direct income while it has nothing to do with them even the local government get more economic income without any ticket price rising.
Why does the ticket price rise one after another? I can tell you that the
prohibition of National Development and Reform Commission is only of meaning in
the paper. Because local governments are all short-sighted, they let alone
scenic spots to raise the price of entrance tickets.