Tourists crowd into a commercial street in Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai during the National Day golden week holiday last year. (Photo:China Daily/Ding Ting)
(ECNS) -- Some tourist attractions have announced ticket price hikes ahead of the National Day holiday after a three-year price limit, igniting much controversy.
Qingyuan Mountain in east China's Fujian province will raise ticket prices to 70 yuan ($11.01) per person from the former 55 yuan. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower and aquarium in Shanghai will also raise ticket prices by 20 yuan and 30 yuan respectively.
Some tourist attractions in Hubei, Gansu and Guangxi provinces also announced ticket price hike plans.
Admission fees at attractions in China have generally risen more rapidly than in other countries in recent years. According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the average price of admission to 5A scenic spots, those officially classed as the best, stands at 112 yuan ($16.3) after several rounds of price hikes.
In the hope of slowing down the trend, China National Development and Reform Commission announced in 2007 that attractions wouldn't be able to make ticket price adjustments for three years.
Since then, it has become routine for them to raise prices every three years, this year marking another round, which has led to worry among tourists.
Earlier, China Tourism Association as well as a senior bureau official called on 5A and 4A scenic spots to not increase ticked prices by too much or too quickly.
Liu Simin, a tourism expert, said the core issue is to establish a transparent ticket price mechanism, ensuring financial conditions and operation are supervised by the public.
Many tourist attractions like Great Wall and the Forbidden City cannot be fully commercialized because of public interest, according to President of China Tourism Academy Dai Bin.
