east lake commentary: "increased prices must rise during festivals" cannot be taken for granted as an unspoken rule
2024-10-01
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with the arrival of the national day holiday, tourism consumption has entered the traditional peak season. with the concentrated release of consumer demand, the prices of related goods and services have risen sharply during the holidays, which has attracted public attention. in particular, they have encountered irregular tourism services and products with far higher than normal prices. it has seriously affected the region’s tourism image and experience reputation.
faced with the old problem of sharp price increases during holidays, the most important thing to change is the concept. some people believe that large price increases during holidays are determined by the relationship between supply and demand. in a market economy, supply and demand determine prices. market entities independently decide the price. as long as the price is clearly marked, the government should not interfere. it is undeniable that as demand increases during holidays, corresponding labor and other costs may increase. reasonable price increases are understandable, but price increases of several times are by no means normal. behind this tacit understanding of unspoken rules and the crazy price increases, there is the merchant's idea of "if you don't make money now, wait until later." from an economic perspective, the governance of "increasing prices during festivals" is to correct market failures and prevent moral hazards that may arise among market entities. from a legal perspective, it is to investigate and deal with illegal acts of price gouging and to urge market entities to operate honestly and trustworthyly. from a social perspective, it is to create a high-quality tourism environment and promote the development of the cultural tourism industry.
on the issue of price increases during holidays, what is the price increase or the extent of the price increase that is considered illegal? the current regulatory definitions are relatively general and lack refinement. according to the national development and reform commission's "implementation measures for administrative punishments for price violations", the price increase range for price gouging behavior is proposed by the provincial price department and approved by the provincial people's government. some areas have made it clear. for example, in 2023, zibo city issued regulations that if the price of hotel rooms during the may day holiday exceeds the actual transaction price in the last 30 days by more than 50%, it will be investigated and punished as price gouging. however, the vast majority of provinces do not have detailed and quantitative regulations, which leads to certain difficulties in implementation at the grassroots level. in order to control the "increased prices during festivals", we must revise and improve regulations and clearly quantify the "red line" of prices of key people's livelihood commodities and services, so as to curb the behavior of operators who continue to test the edges of price increases and the temptation to deliberately not follow the conventional pricing. behavior.
the most critical reason why large price increases during holidays continue to be banned is that the cost of violating the law is relatively low, and only a few are punished, while the majority profit. some regional management agencies do not have a strong sense of initiative and generally ignore complaints about illegal and substantial price increases. various "price assassins" during holidays make tourists feel "ripped off" and become the "biggest victim", thus affecting the evaluation of the entire regional tourism environment. at a time when cultural and tourism officials from all over the country are engaged in "crazy output" and "crazy involution", an occasional price "backstab" may turn into a public opinion incident, consuming all the city's popularity accumulated over the years. the "sky-high price shrimp" incident in qingdao, shandong province in 2015 is still fresh in people's minds. a shrimp worth 38 yuan offset the good image that shandong province invested hundreds of millions of yuan in building over many years. therefore, the behavior of "increasing prices during festivals" must not be ignored. relevant departments should take the initiative to strengthen daily monitoring of the holiday market, severely crack down on illegal and illegal behaviors such as price gouging and taking advantage of "festivals" to increase prices, and quickly investigate and deal with illegal price increases. , public exposure can curb this unspoken rule.
strengthen publicity and education for operators and consumers, strive to create a good environment for honest management and safe consumption, and avoid price increases during the holidays from becoming "people following the herd". regions or departments should promptly issue reminders on price order in the holiday tourism market, publicize laws and regulations on prices to operators, guide market entities to operate honestly and trustworthy in accordance with the law, and strengthen self-regulatory management of industry prices. in particular, operators are urged to implement clear price tags so that consumers know clearly the goods or services or prices they purchase, instead of deliberately trying to "shrink" the weight unit and "large" the price unit to induce consumers. it is necessary to use various publicity media to guide consumers to consume rationally, protect their rights in a timely manner when facing unreasonable prices, and not provide opportunities for a few unscrupulous merchants to take advantage of. at the same time, relevant regulatory authorities should make public reporting hotlines, strengthen duty during holidays, and unblock channels for people to complain and safeguard their rights.
at present, all localities, relevant departments, and tourism enterprises are working hard to provide tourists with high-quality services and strive to create a comfortable tourism environment. the most direct feeling of the tourism environment is the price. to win in the current fierce competition of convergence of cultural tourism resources and attracting passenger flow, it is of great significance to create a high-quality tourism environment by making a good first move to manage the "rising prices during festivals".
source: jingchu net (hubei daily net)
author: lu jie (yichang dangyang)
editor: ding yue
