Scrapping entrance fees in fight for tourists
Print Edition
THE Lushan Conference Hall, where Mao Zedong convened a historic meeting in 1959, exemplifies one of the late communist leader’s theories: whoever wins the people wins the war.
The site at Lushan Mountain, Jiangxi Province, has reversed the tide in its battle for visitors. Last year, it received 400 tourists a day, but after it scrapped entrance fees in March, the number jumped to 3,000.
“I’ve worked here for over 20 years but I’ve never seen such a crowd,” said management staff member Huang Ying. The influx of tourists even prompted management to build a shelter for the long queues, she said.
As the three-day holiday surrounding China’s Qingming Festival, the tomb sweeping day — which fell yesterday — brings a minor travel surge, Chinese scenic spots like the Lushan Conference Hall are making tough changes to appeal to tourists.
The historic building axed its entrance fee to address the problem of dwindling visitors as tourists complained they had to pay an extra 50 yuan (US$8) to tour the conference hall in addition to an 180-yuan entrance ticket for the mountain .
The decision came after China’s tourism administration called for entrance fee reforms in January. Jiangxi was among seven provinces and municipalities to pilot the reform.
Worrying signs in the tourist market are pushing the change. Statistics from the China National Tourism Administration show that overseas visitors to China last year decreased by 1 percent, while overseas travel by Chinese tourists hit a new high with a 19.5-percent increase in the number of outbound travelers.
Jean-Paul Godelet from Belgium said China is losing its appeal as an inexpensive tourist destination.
With the devaluation of the euro against the yuan, some Chinese destinations have caught up with Europe in terms of costs. “But the rising costs have not brought better services,” Godelet said. ”
A big part of the mounting travel expenses comes from entrance tickets. According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, entrance fees accounted for 27 percent of total travel spending in Beijing and Shanghai in 2014, and in county-level cities, it was 51 percent.
Huang, meanwhile, no longer selling tickets, instead works to manage crowds. “It’s challenging new job, but everyone needs to adapt to survive,” she said.
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