Should there be a toll on Prairie Road?

(Zhangjiakou Prairie Sky Road ticket price hearing results: Prairie Sky Road is temporarily free of charge 1. Background? "Grassland Sky Road", if you haven't heard of it until now, then you are really OUT ! Because this most beautiful self-driving scenic road, known as "China's Route 66", is ready to collect fees. The Grassland Road stretches across Zhangbei County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. It is more than 130 kilometers long and was originally built for the construction of windmills. The road has quickly become popular because of its extremely beautiful scenery. Here are some pictures of the beautiful scenery of the Prairie Sky Road for your enjoyment.

In the summer and autumn of 2014, the "Prairie Sky Road" has already appeared on the Internet. The fire was so bad that more and more self-driving tourists were attracted to visit here, but because the infrastructure, service facilities and tourism management failed to keep up, large-scale and long-term congestion occurred on the 130-kilometer road.

One year after the grassland Tianlu became popular, news broke out in June: Tianlu planned to set up a scenic spot with a charge of 80 yuan per person! However, there was a twist, and two days after the toll hearing, another news was released: " According to the opinions and suggestions put forward by the participants of the hearing, in view of the fact that the Grassland Road Scenic Area is currently under construction and the service facilities are not yet complete, after study, the ticket prices for the Grassland Road Scenic Area will not be set for the time being." So for such a commuting road , should the highway in Xingyu Circle be tolled, and how much should it be charged? This article attempts to interpret it through big data methods. 2. What problems can be solved by tolling? Regarding the purpose of tolling in Grassland Tianli, the official statement is: "In order to truly reflect the value of the scenic spot, attract tourists from other places to visit, and promote the healthy and sustainable development of the Grassland Road Scenic Area." For the healthy development of the scenic spot, fees are charged. So what problem can the fee solve? To understand it, we must Let’s first understand what the problems are with Grassland Sky Road. This time, we also start with the UGC content, because the problems reported by tourists are the real problems. Sentiment analysis was conducted on some Weibo posts. The following conclusions were drawn: tourists are generally satisfied with Grassland Tianlu (positive evaluations account for 50.19%, and dissatisfaction accounts for about 15.5%.

We focus on dissatisfaction Evaluation. The first is the spatial distribution of dissatisfaction evaluations. The figure below reflects the posting of negative emotions on Weibo in the entire Zhangjiakou City in October 2014. It can be seen that the negative emotions on Prairie Tian Road are mainly concentrated in the eastern section and the western section. Less. Looking at the part of the Grassland Road, the unsatisfactory comments are mainly concentrated in a few places: the intersection of the east and west sections (midpoint: Yehuling No. 1 Bridge, the gas station, the entrance to the east section and the west section, etc. The east section : Fenicailiang, Huanghuaping, Xijiacun, Xiaonanwa, Houyingba, Heinaobao, Xiaoyuanshanzi, Bianqianwai, Bianqiangli, Weijiaying, Xiaotaigou and Shuiquanwa, etc. The western section: Li Taishan, Xiaoyu. Menzhuangou, Liujiafang Village, etc.

Negative Weibo postings in Zhangjiakou City in October 2014

Negative Weibo postings in the eastern section of Grassland Road in October 2014

In October 2014, the content of the negative Weibo comments on the western section of Caitian Road was also concentrated in several aspects: If there is a toll on Caitang Road, the flow of tourists can be restricted first, which will objectively improve traffic and sanitation in the scenic area. , the additional funds collected can be used for the improvement and addition of infrastructure such as roads, public toilets, and garbage bins in the scenic area, as well as for tourism service facilities such as catering, accommodation, gas stations, signage, and interpretation systems along the route. It can also be perfected and improved. From this point of view, if the Grassland Sky Road can form a complete scenic spot management system, have fixed and reasonable economic sources, and be self-sufficient, "it can truly reflect the value of the scenic spot and promote the healthy and sustainable development of the Grassland Sky Road Scenic Area.", and improve the tourist experience of tourists. It is also an improvement, and there is nothing wrong with it. But is the only way to secure reasonable financial resources is to collect tickets? Of course not.

The above picture reflects the per capita consumption of tourists on the Grassland Road when no tickets are charged. It can be seen that the per capita consumption is mainly concentrated in 200-500 yuan. The proportion of 200-1,000 yuan has exceeded 81%. This level of consumption actually far exceeds the ticket price of 80 yuan. Further research found that the main expenditures of tourists are on "food, accommodation and transportation". Tourists also like the specialties of Caitian Road/Zhangbei County: mutton, oatmeal noodles, sesame oil, milk, etc. Therefore, if the scenic spot can provide more distinctive products and services for restaurants, hotels, and car services along Caitian Road (mainly for self-driving, local specialties, etc.), the revenue may be far higher than that of just collecting tickets. Much more. Therefore, "charging tickets" for Cao Tian Road can solve some of the existing problems, but "charging tickets" is not the only and may not be the best solution. 3. Is the pricing reasonable? Regarding the pricing issue, the management of Cai Cao Tian Road. The basis given by the Office is "the operating cost of the Grassland Road Scenic Area, tourist acceptance and reference to the ticket price level of the relevant scenic area, and the scenic area ticket price is formulated. On the basis of the operating cost, taxes and reasonable investment returns of the enterprise are added. The operating cost of the scenic area is management." The company's own calculation cannot be measured and cannot be made public, but the level of tourist acceptance and the ticket prices of related scenic spots can be understood. Therefore, our first question is to explore whether the pricing is reasonable based on the level of tourist acceptance and related scenic spots. . To understand whether the pricing is acceptable to tourists, we must first find out where the main source markets are.

Semantic analysis of the travel notes and Weibo content revealed that the main tourist source areas of Cao Cao Tian Road are Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and a small number of Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, so the tourist source market is basically dominated by the five provinces and cities in North China.

Caotian Road is built as "China's most beautiful self-driving road". After completion, it will be a high-level tourism resource, so the most valuable reference should be the high-level (3A and above) in the five provinces and cities in North China. Scenic spots. According to data provided by major ticket websites such as Ctrip and Tuniu, the estimated price of tickets for 3A and above scenic spots in five provinces and cities in North China is 92.5 yuan. If measured by this standard, the ticket price for Grassland Road is 80 yuan, which seems to be true. Reasonable. Next, we plotted the ticket prices of more than 1,000 major scenic spots or attractions in the five provinces and cities in North China, and got the following picture.

The first picture shows that although the scenic spots and attractions in the five provinces and cities in North China. There are many attractions, but high-priced tickets are still concentrated in a few cities or regions: Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Qinhuangdao, Taiyuan, Fengning Bashang, Chengde, Hohhot and other places. The average ticket price in these cities or regions is 104.7. Yuan. There are more small purple squares and small green squares in the second picture, that is, there are more tickets for less than 50 yuan and 50-100 yuan. According to the data, the average ticket for major scenic spots in the five provinces and cities in North China is more than 94.5 yuan. The average price of both tickets is more than 80 yuan, which is even higher than the ticket price of high-level scenic spots in five provinces and cities in North China, so further research on these ticket prices is needed.

The above table is for scenic spots in five provinces and cities in North China. It can be seen that most of the top 20 scenic spots in terms of ticket prices are Beijing scenic spots, and hot spring tourist resorts and other entertainment theme parks/scenic spots account for the majority. Grassland Tianlu and hot springs or other entertainment theme parks/scenic spots account for the majority. The results are not very specific, and this type of scenic spots has a great impact on the results. Therefore, we consider excluding such scenic spots and then make a comparison. After excluding all hot springs and other entertainment theme parks/scenic spots, the average ticket price of scenic spots in the five provinces and cities in North China. It is 67.5 yuan. Therefore, the ticket price of 80 yuan for Grassland Road does not exceed the average ticket price for high-level scenic spots/attractions in the five provinces and cities in North China, but exceeds the average ticket price for non-theme parks/scenic spots in the five provinces and cities in North China. Tianlu tolls can indeed solve some problems and alleviate the pressure on scenic spots. Moreover, although the price of 80 yuan is higher than the average ticket price of non-theme parks/scenic spots in the five provinces and cities in North China, it is only more than 10 yuan more than the average price, and it is still lower than the average price in the five provinces and cities in North China. Ticket prices for high-level scenic spots/attractions in provinces and cities are not as scary as imagined. But at the same time, once a scenic spot collects tickets, it will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among tourists and reduce brand satisfaction. The only and best solution to solve problems and bring economic benefits is that when tourists visit the Grassland Road, "food, accommodation, transportation" and even the purchase of specialty products are key consumption areas. If the scenic spot can provide food, accommodation and cars along the Grassland Road. If we provide high-quality and distinctive tourism services and products in terms of peripherals and tourism products, then the economic benefits and brand benefits are likely to far exceed the simple ticket economy. How to balance the development of scenic spots and tourist satisfaction? Management should think twice.