New fee put off May Day visitors, Fenghuang hotel operators claim

Tourism operators in the historic city of Fenghuang, Hunan province, claim the introduction of an entry fee caused a sharp drop in visitors over the three-day May Day holiday.

"Business for this May 1 holiday was only a third of the previous year's," said hotel and bar operator Jiang Xiaonan. "During previous public holidays all the rooms in Fenghuang were booked out but this year the rate fell, with many hoteliers even offering big discounts."

Another hotel operator said business had been much worse than for the grave sweeping festival in early spring, the last public holiday before the 148 yuan (HK$185) fee was introduced.

"My hotel was full at that time, but for the May 1 holiday I had less visitors," she said. "It is the worst it's been in recent years."

But the local government insists the fee has had no effect, with the ancient city seeing increases in both visitor numbers and revenue. It says there were 102,000 visitors over the three days, up from 99,000 last year, and revenue of 71 million yuan (HK$88.7 million).

Tourism authorities in most other parts of the mainland also reported increased numbers.