Tourist sites need to be free

Few tourist attractions across the country waived price hikes during the three-day May Day holiday. The unreasonably high prices of some forced many visitors to take dangerous fare-dodging routes into scenic areas, this sharp contrast underlines the fact that many local governments have just twisted mindsets about developing tourism, says an article in Qilu Evening News. Excerpts:

It is possible to find a way to sneak into almost any popular tourist spot online, many of which describe pretty thrilling routes that involve climbing over a ridge or wading a creek.

To confess, trying to dodge the admission charge in this way should not be condoned, especially when the routes are dangerous. But the first to be blamed for the popularity of such information is the management of these sites for raising the entry fees to such an extent.

More than 20 famous spots raised their entrance fees just before the May Day holiday, with the excuses that maintenance costs had risen, or equipment renewal and service upgrading was required, or even just to restrain the number of visitors. Netizens poked fun at the 356-yuan ($57) entrance fee for Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, which is triple that of the Louvre Museum in Paris, saying the price has helped China reach the top international level for charging entrance fees.

But entrance fees should never be a priority in developing tourism, an industry that includes revenue sources such as catering, accommodation and entertainments. Tourist sites should focus on stimulating consumption on these, rather than imposing price hikes on visitors who travel a long way and don't want to make a futile trip.

More importantly, these sites are public resources and should serve the economic interests of all.

So far there are only few sites, such as the West Lake in Hangzhou, that do not depend on high entrance fees. It's time for the rest to reconsider their entrance fees. Only long-term thinking about ways to exploit all the possible revenue sources, backed up by low-priced or even free entry, will bring long-term prosperity to tourism.

(China Daily 05/04/2012 page9)