This year’s Spring Festival, the long-lost “people following the crowd” reappeared in the tourism market. Tickets for many scenic spots sold out and restrictions were announced, and the national tourism market accelerated to pick up.
According to calculations by the data center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, during the Spring Festival holiday this year, 308 million domestic tourists traveled nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 23.1%, returning to 88.6% of the same period in 2019; domestic tourism revenue was 375.843 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30%, returning to 73.1% of the same period in 2019.
“Retaliatory tourism” has begun to take shape, but with it, there is an unpleasant “familiar taste”-the scenic spots in various places are “crowded”, and the weather causes a large number of tourists to stay. Unworthy tourists are “nothing to love” and can’t feel the fun of playing at all; there are only 6 noodles for a bowl of 20 yuan, and the charge for 4 dishes is 1,500 yuan. The quality of meals in restaurants in some popular tourist cities is high; the price of homestays is five times, hotel prices have soared all the way, and the premium is serious but it is still hard to find a room… After the adjustment of the epidemic prevention and control measures, the problems exposed in the tourism market should not be underestimated. It is the first step towards spring, but problems should be seen behind the prosperity. After the Spring Festival exam, how to make the tourism market deliver more satisfactory answers in the future, so that the tourism market can take off better in 2023, the tourism market that has just recovered is facing a series of challenges.
trapped in snow climbing
Tourists question the management of the scenic spot for dereliction of duty
January 24, the third day of the Lunar New Year. Huangshan Scenic Area in Anhui received 34,385 tourists, a record high for a single day during the Spring Festival holiday since 2018. However, due to the congestion caused by the snow, some tourists reported that they stayed for 5 and a half hours in the environment of minus 15 degrees Celsius due to the large flow of people when going down the mountain. Some netizens complained that because there were too many people in the scenic spot, they went down the mountain from 12 o’clock and were blocked until 7 o’clock in the evening. Some netizens jokingly claimed that they walked for 7 hours on the daily 40-minute journey from Guangmingding to Yuping Cableway, and finally brought back 4 chilblains. The entry of “Huangshan” also rushed to the hot search list on Weibo.
Coincidentally. On the same day, a similar scene also appeared in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan. According to reports, on January 24, Zhangjiajie scenic spot received more than 60,000 tourists, a record high in a single day. Some netizens posted a video on the short video platform that night, complaining that tens of thousands of tourists were trapped on the mountain at night because the scenic spot did not control the flow of people. Due to all kinds of non-release and pushing, I was “squeezed several times and had difficulty breathing.” In the video, there is constant noise at the scene. On the short video platform, other tourists also reported being stranded in the scenic spot.
“It is understandable that there are many tourists during the Spring Festival, but like this, it is obvious that the scenic spot has not controlled the flow of people, causing thousands of tourists to be trapped on the mountain at night.” Many tourists have questioned that the scenic spot has not controlled the flow of people.
In response to tourists from many places claiming to be stranded in scenic spots for 5 to 7 hours, on January 25, the Office of the Security Committee of the State Council issued an emergency safety reminder, and relevant departments in various places should strengthen the safety supervision of scenic spots, investigate various risks and hidden dangers, and set up warning signs , Arrange special inspections; tourists should not go to areas that have not been officially developed and opened to play, pay attention to preventing risks such as water impact when visiting in mountains, river valleys, etc., abide by safety regulations, and strengthen their own safety precautions.
The phenomenon of slaughtering customers is frequent
Merchants don’t talk about integrity and only make quick money
In addition to problems in the reception capacity of scenic spots and a serious imbalance between supply and demand, some long-standing ailments in the tourism market, such as repeated behaviors of slaughtering customers, have also reappeared during the Spring Festival holiday.
There are only 6 noodles in a bowl of 20 yuan in Xi’an, Shaanxi, and 4 dishes in a restaurant in Beihai, Guangxi cost 1,500 yuan. During the Spring Festival, many suspected acts of slaughtering customers rushed to Weibo hot searches. According to reports, on January 25, the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Sanya City, Hainan Province notified 5 typical cases of suspected illegal acts investigated and dealt with. As of that day, Sanya had notified and investigated more than 20 suspected illegal acts in the tourism market.
In addition to these illegal acts, there are also some unreasonable phenomena that are in the gray area. It is not difficult to find that the food and beverage prices in many popular scenic spots during the Spring Festival holiday have been much higher than the normal range. At the New Year Temple Fair in Yuanmingyuan, Beijing, a skewer of grilled squid is 30 yuan, and a skewer of duck meat skewers is 20 yuan; the standard price of a bowl of ice cream in Gulangyu Island, Xiamen is 38 yuan… Since it coincides with the Spring Festival, many tourists think “everyone is coming” and “big food” Chinese New Year”, not wanting to be disappointed, and finally took out his pocket unwillingly. Many merchants have also grasped this kind of psychology of tourists, and they have done a “one-shot deal” with great joy.
In addition to expensive “food”, during the Spring Festival this year, “living” is also expensive. Not only the prices of hotels in popular tourist areas have generally increased by three to five times, but the recovery of tourism has largely driven the recovery of the homestay market, and the prices of homestays have also soared. According to statistics, the number of homestay bookings before the Spring Festival holiday this year has reached 6 times that of the Spring Festival in 2022. Some netizens complained that the price of a homestay that usually costs more than 100 yuan exceeded 600 yuan during the Spring Festival.
Integrity-based management
The tourism industry should take the road of high quality
“The various chaos in the tourism market during the Spring Festival this year are actually old problems in the domestic tourism market.” Wang Tianxing, member of the Expert Committee on the Rule of Law of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and deputy director of the Cultural Tourism Law and Regulation Research Center of Beijing International Studies University, said.
Wang Tianxing analyzed and pointed out that, as far as the reception capacity exceeds the limit, from the perspective of the enterprise, there are not only the reasons for the lack of management ability and the ability to deal with large passenger flow, but also the problem of over-limit ticket sales in order to obtain excess profits; from the government’s From a perspective, there is a lack of pre-judgment of over-limit ticket sales and over-limit reception in scenic spots. When the incident occurred, the early warning mechanism was not activated in time to take appropriate measures to guide tourists.
As for merchants’ behavior of slaughtering customers, Wang Tianxing believes that from the perspective of enterprises, it is the lack of integrity culture and the mentality of making quick money; from the perspective of the government, the problem lies in the inability to strictly enforce the law. Both local consumers and foreign tourists should be the objects of government public services. Any illegal acts that occur within the administrative region, no matter where the rights and interests of the victims come from, the government departments should not treat them differently, but should strictly enforce the law and perform their duties.
“In short, on the road to the recovery of the tourism industry, enterprises should abandon the previous mentality of ‘making money from foreign tourists’, operate with integrity, and take a sustainable path with high-quality development. This is a good policy for the government to develop the local economy.” Wang said. Said the star.
Strong market recovery
Clarify the boundaries of responsibilities and strengthen supervision
In the post-epidemic era, in the face of the strong recovery of tourism, it is particularly important to guide and supervise the tourism market.
According to Hu Bin, a member of the Expert Committee on the Rule of Law of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and executive director of the Culture and Tourism Law Research Center of Zhejiang University City College, the most important thing is to stand in front and prepare in advance for tourism disputes caused by the lack of tourism reception capacity. plan, deepen the comprehensive supervision system, improve the joint law enforcement mechanism, and maximize overall coordination to ensure the rights and interests of tourists. At the same time, relevant departments should take the initiative. On the one hand, it is necessary to actively guide tourism market players to implement their responsibilities through various forms such as guidance and interviews, improve online and offline channels for complaints and reports, and further play the role of the public in supervision. On the other hand, it is also necessary to comprehensively use administrative punishment, credit punishment, Information disclosure and other methods are used to severely crack down on various illegal acts, especially those that seriously damage the rights and interests of tourists.
Aiming at regulatory difficulties such as camping and other new forms of tourism and “wild scenic spots”, Hu Bin suggested starting from the perspective of protecting the rights and interests of tourists, combining with local realities, innovating regulatory systems and mechanisms, clarifying the boundaries of responsibilities of various departments, and better assisting the post-epidemic tourism industry rapid recovery.
(Editor in charge: Tan Mengtong)
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