OPINION> FROM THE CHINESE PRESS
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Turn scenic spots into national parks
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-30 08:50 In run up to the National Day holidays, the country famous tourist attractions are raising ticket prices in droves, going up some 70 percent in extreme cases. In recent years, there have been recurrent price hikes despite repeated prohibitions. In order to address this problem once and for all, the government should replace all State-level scenic spots with national parks, says an article in the Beijing News. Excerpts:
As a result, law enforcement should play a role in addressing this problem. National parks, as a kind of common benefit accessible to all, is prevalent in numerous foreign countries. Instead of placing a ban on increases in ticket price, authorities of these nations take on the maintenance and management of tourist attractions as a budgetary item, and keep ticket prices low to stimulate the tourism industry. In order to make tourist attractions affordable for Chinese citizens once and for all, the government should declare all 187 State-level scenic spots as national parks, and thus root out profit making based on business control of the country's natural resources. (China Daily 09/30/2009 page9) |