Recently, Guangming Daily published "This is a coup: a lifetime tour with tickets" in the column of "These Good Practices to Boost the Economy", introducing that since May 1, all A-level scenic spots in Turpan, Xinjiang, have implemented the policy of first real name ticket purchase and lifetime free ticket. The head of the local culture and tourism department said that this was a "bold decision" made after in-depth research and extensive solicitation of opinions to improve the return rate of self driving tourists in Xinjiang through ticket discounts, and drive the development and economic growth of surrounding hotels, catering, shopping and other related industries.
After the report was published, it triggered heated discussion among readers. Some netizens left messages saying that "good thinking promotes the development of tourism". From tourists' hasty "cross road tour", to the increasingly heated "overnight tour", and now to the "repeated tour"; The changes from ticket economy to comprehensive consumption economy indicate that the culture and tourism industry should focus on the big and relax the small, and take a new approach from one point to another.
In the past, tickets were the main way to generate income for most scenic spots in China, and the price of tickets had a huge impact on the income of scenic spots. The number of tourists shall be controlled by adjusting the ticket price to achieve the purpose of resource protection and infrastructure maintenance. This way of income generation has the characteristics of simple operation and fast capital withdrawal. However, as the scenic spots pay more attention to creating new products, new business types and new scenes, the proportion of ticket income in many well operated scenic spots and cities is decreasing year by year. Taking Turpan as an example, the economic operation of Turpan in the first three quarters of 2023 shows that from January to September 2023, the city will receive 22.3727 million tourists and achieve a tourism revenue of 17.283 billion yuan, of which the ticket revenue is only 143 million yuan, accounting for less than 1% of the overall tourism revenue.
In recent years, the country has gradually explored the possibility of lowering the ticket price of scenic spots or even offering free tickets. The General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission issued a notice in September 2021, deciding to reduce the ticket prices of key state-owned scenic spots nationwide from September 2021 to October 2021 to "look back" and take hard measures to get rid of the dependence on the ticket economy. The "14th Five Year Plan" Tourism Development Plan also clearly proposes to encourage the development and implementation of subsidy policies such as ticket reduction and exemption of tourist attractions, free opening in off-season, and discount of performance tickets. In a sense, whether to rely on ticket income is a reference factor to measure the development mode and operation level of scenic spots. Getting rid of ticket economy has become a necessary step for the transformation and upgrading of China's tourism industry and moving towards high-quality supply services.
Getting rid of ticket economy will greatly promote the development of local economy. The natural landscape is not the resources of any company, group or department, but the resources of the whole city. In 2002, adhering to the spirit of "returning the lake to the people and sharing it with the people", Hangzhou announced that the West Lake Scenic Spot in Hangzhou was free to the public, becoming the first 5A free scenic spot in China. The famous scenic spots, such as the moon in the Three Pools, the fish watching in the Flower Harbor, the warblers in the willow waves, and the wind and lotus in the Quyuan, have been open to tourists all over the world for more than 20 years. Hangzhou has not only received a considerable number of tourists, greatly improved the development of business services, stimulated the secondary consumption of transportation, catering, cultural and creative industries, brought considerable benefits to the local economy, but also successfully created an atmospheric, inclusive and beautiful city image.
To get rid of the ticket economy, first of all, the most direct beneficiary group is tourists. The rigid tourism expenditure has been reduced, and the tourist experience of being respected and valued has been obtained. Tourists will undoubtedly have a good impression on the scenic spots and cities. Secondly, local people engaged in tourism related industries have also benefited a lot. The successful construction of a complete tourism industry cluster in a traditional scenic spot will drive the growth of local tourism consumption in an all-round way, so that businesses engaged in catering, entertainment, accommodation, shopping and other industries can obtain better profits, thus generating overall benefits, synergy benefits and value-added benefits.
