What has the implementation of paid rescue in Huangshan brought to tourists?

Recently, the news that Huangshan Scenic Area will launch paid rescue this year has aroused media attention and heated discussions from all walks of life, with both supporters and doubters.

One question: Why implement paid rescue?

——Mountain scenic areas are prone to illegal exploration and rescue operations are difficult and costly. Paid rescue is not only a kind of prior protection for violators, but also a warning to imitators.

Most mountainous scenic spots have steep terrain and maintain relatively stable biodiversity. They are popular wild adventure destinations for many travel enthusiasts. They are also prone to areas where travel enthusiasts are in danger or even suffer casualties.

Cheng Yaxing, executive deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Party Working Committee of Huangshan Scenic Area, said that Huangshan is a typical mountain scenic spot with high mountains, deep valleys, dense forests, dangerous terrain, steep tourist routes, and a large area and long tourist routes. In the past five years, the number of rescues provided to tourists in Huangshan has averaged around 400 per year, of which general rescues such as sudden illnesses and accidental injuries account for about 75%. In addition, there are many emergency rescues in Huangshan every year, and the rescue targets are basically travelers who enter undeveloped open areas without authorization, get lost, get trapped, or are in danger.

Cheng Yaxing introduced that in recent years, Huangshan has set up many obvious warning signs on the edge of undeveloped and open areas, and strengthened joint prevention and control with villages and towns surrounding the scenic area to prevent travel enthusiasts from entering without authorization. However, it still happens that travelers enter undeveloped and open areas of scenic spots without authorization. Only last year, 5 batches of illegal "tourists" with a total of 109 trips were intercepted and investigated.

Jiang Wengang, captain of the Huangshan Scenic Area Emergency Rescue Brigade, said that among all types of rescue in the scenic area, the most difficult, risky and costly is to rescue travel enthusiasts who enter undeveloped open areas without authorization. For this alone, the annual direct cost of the scenic spot ranges from hundreds of thousands to millions of yuan. He gave an example: In 2010, in order to rescue 18 university students who were lost and trapped, the scenic spot dispatched more than 230 people to carry out emergency rescue overnight. All the trapped students escaped, but a public security officer unfortunately died during the rescue.

Second question: How to implement paid rescue?

——Insist on putting life first, giving priority to saving people, and not seeking profit. Rescue people first and then charge, combine paid rescue with public rescue, establish a post-event recovery mechanism, and combine education with punishment.

After the news that Huangshan would launch paid rescue was reported by the media and spread on the Internet, the vast majority of the audience and netizens were supportive. They believe that in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Tourism Law, paid rescue is legally justified. At the same time, the implementation of paid rescue can allow violators to bear corresponding costs, embody the concept of the rule of law with consistent rights and responsibilities, and reduce the waste of public resources.

However, some netizens believe that it is a basic human right for citizens to receive assistance when they are in danger, and scenic spots, as for-profit organizations, have the responsibility to be responsible to tourists, including paying search and rescue expenses. Some netizens are also worried that the implementation of paid rescue may cause some people in distress to refuse rescue for fear that the rescue cost will be too high, or simply not call the police to avoid the rescue cost.

Cheng Yaxing believes that,

According to the "Tourism Law", "Anhui Province Tourism Regulations", "Huangshan Scenic Area Management Regulations", "Huangshan City Implementation of "Huangshan Scenic Area Management Regulations" and other relevant According to laws and regulations, scenic spots have the responsibility to ensure the safety of tourists, but they do not have the obligation to fully "pay" for the consequences of violations such as "fare evasion" and unauthorized entry into undeveloped open areas. But she always emphasized that whether tourists or illegal travelers are in danger, Huangshan will adhere to the bottom line of giving priority to saving people, put responsibility for life in front, and implement emergency rescue as soon as possible.

Cheng Yaxing introduced that the basic principles for implementing paid rescue in Huangshan are: first, save people first and then charge, and never "negotiate the price first and then rescue." Even if someone in distress refuses paid rescue, the rescue will not be passive, let alone indifferent; second, paid rescue and public rescue will be combined to clarify the public-private relationship and prevent public resources from paying for violations. The purpose of the rescue is not to make profit; the third is to recover compensation after the rescue. After the rescue is completed, reasonable corresponding rescue expenses are recovered from the rescued through consultation, mediation, arbitration, litigation, etc.; the fourth is to combine education and punishment to provide compensation to the rescued. The rescuers will criticize and educate them afterwards, and use legal means and ethical norms to punish their violations to minimize violations and reduce safety risks.

Three questions: Will public rescue be weakened?

——Establish a multi-party emergency rescue system and medical emergency network to do everything possible to ensure the safety of tourists. The paid rescue fees are mainly used for the professional and standardized construction of the rescue team.

Will the implementation of paid rescue in Huangshan impact or even weaken the free public rescue? How to prevent paid rescue from sliding to the extreme of profit-making or disguised profit-making?

In response to the concerns of netizens, Cheng Guanghua said that for many years, Huangshan has always given top priority to the safety of tourists, and has established and improved emergency rescue mechanisms as an important measure to protect the safety of tourists and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests. In 2011, Huangshan specially set up an emergency rescue team for scenic spots, established an emergency rescue management system and medical first aid network that combines full-time and multi-party collaboration, and explored a set of "four-in-one" system construction, human support, working mechanism, and guarantee implementation. "Travel safety emergency rescue mode.

At present, the Huangshan Scenic Area Emergency Rescue Brigade has been included in the national tourism safety emergency rescue, Anhui Province mountain emergency rescue, Anhui Province mountain tourist area earthquake disaster emergency rescue and other rescue team sequences.