In the afternoon of March 30, 2016, the administrative office of the Phoenix Ancient Town in Xiangxi, Hunan Province announced that visitors would not need to pay the admission fee for the town since April 10, 2016. They will only need to buy tickets when visiting the scenic spots inside the town.
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| Phoenix Ancient Town |
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| A Glimpse of the Night View |
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Why cancel the admission fee of the Phoenix Ancient Town?
Dating back to three years ago, the mandatory admission ticket of the Phoenix Ancient Town was introduced, which caused a lot of discussion and controversy. The local government stressed that on one hand they need considerable fund to maintain and restore the facilities to keep the most original appearance of the water town; on the other hand, to charge visitors could solve the overcrowding problem to a certain degree. Therefore, despite the different opinions, the scenic area administrative office began to charge each visitor CNY 148 once they set foot on the ancient town.
However, things didn’t work out well. In the past, the Phoenix Ancient Town received numerous tourists every year. The tourism industry supported the town’s economy greatly. Many local villagers engaged in tourism related industries made a fortune. But in the last three years, the amount of visitors had decreased dramatically. The stunning night view used to attract tourists a lot, but few people can be seen at night nowadays. “In the past, my hostel was full of guests on holidays. But now only one third of the rooms are booked per day”, complained a tenant. “However, as the admission ticket is soon to be cancelled, I think we can expect a new period of prosperity”, he added.
How to make more profits in the tourism industry properly?
In China, it’s very common that some scenic spots increase the ticket price every a few years to pursue high interests, while neglecting the profits made from other aspects, like revenue from dinning, accommodation and entertainment. In result, the admission fee of many scenic spots is much higher than those of other countries, somehow refusing more visitors and causing lots of complaints from tourists.
Price Schedule of Some Main Spots in China
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Do you think ticket price of China tourist attractions is higher than other countries?
On the contrary, some scenic spots do not emphasize on the revenue from the entrance tickets, but on other aspects. Take the West Lake in Hangzhou as an example. It stopped to charge admission fee as early as the end of 2002, attracting more visitors to linger in Hangzhou. In 2014, Hangzhou received 106 million tourists and achieved the tourism revenue of CNY 188.6 billion, increases of 252.4% and 483.6% compared with 2002. Free access to the West Lake, the most famous tourist site in Hangzhou, enhanced the city’s competitiveness in tourism market and drove the development of hotels, catering service, as well as transportation.
