Over 70% of the respondents support the reservation system for scenic spot tickets, and over half feel that the rules are not clear enough

China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Dai Yao

Set the alarm clock, fill in the information, and wait for the tickets to be released... During the "National Day" holiday that just passed, did you visit any attractions that require advance reservation of tickets? Do you support the reservation system for scenic spot tickets? A survey of 1,002 respondents conducted by the China Youth Daily Social Survey Center United Questionnaire Network (wenjuan.com) showed that 72.1% of the respondents supported the adoption of a reservation system for scenic spot tickets. Nearly 70% of the respondents expect scenic spots to improve reservation and ticketing systems to prevent "agents" and "scalpers" from crowding out ticket purchase quotas for ordinary tourists.

52.2% of the respondents felt that the ticket reservation rules were not clear enough

Lu Shiqi, a post-2000 generation who works in Beijing, usually visits some relatively "niche" museums, "such as the China Art Museum of Arts and Crafts, the China Archaeological Museum, etc." In her opinion, whether it is for the tourist experience or the maintenance of order in the scenic spot, the reservation system is very necessary. "This can give tourists a better experience."

"I think for young people, ticket reservations may not have much impact, but for people of my parents' age, it may be a bit inconvenient." When Zhang Guoguo, a post-90s generation from Shandong, helped his parents reserve tickets, he wanted to inquire whether there was a manual ticket window specifically open to the elderly at the scenic spot, "but the phone never got through." Later, Zhang Guoguo helped her parents successfully reserve tickets through the mini program, but she said that the online reservation operation is actually quite complicated for parents. Without the assistance of their children, "it may cause them to not be able to go to some attractions they originally wanted to go to."

What is everyone’s attitude towards the reservation system for tickets to scenic spots? The data shows that 14.5% of the respondents are very supportive, 57.6% of the respondents are somewhat supportive, 4.5% of the respondents are not very supportive, 0.5% of the respondents do not support it at all, and 22.9% of the respondents are hard to say.

"I'm a person who doesn't like to make plans. I like to buy tickets on site." Nowadays, many scenic spots require reservations many days in advance. This makes Wu Shuran, a post-2005 generation in Beijing, always have some regrets when traveling. "Sometimes you don't know until you arrive at the site that you have to make a reservation to enter, and the trip ends up being in vain."

Lu Shiqi feels that it takes a lot of time and energy to reserve tickets. “You need to check the guide in advance and watch the ticket release time in advance, and you may not be able to grab it in the end.” Especially during holidays such as the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day, it is rare for people to take advantage of the holidays to relax and travel, but as a result, they cannot get tickets, which "will also bring regrets to the journey."

What troubles do you think the reservation system for scenic spot tickets may cause? In the survey, 54.6% of the respondents felt that they had to make reservations many days in advance and were unable to travel at will; 52.2% of the respondents said that the rules for releasing tickets were unclear and they did not know when and how much to release; 49.1% of the respondents said that online reservations were too difficult to get and they could not get appointments at the attractions they wanted to visit. Others include: not knowing which attractions require reservations, and only finding out that they cannot buy tickets when they arrive on site (40.9%); reservation channels for various scenic spots are scattered, and they are not sure where to make reservations (40.0%); real-name authentication is required and they are worried about the security of personal information (24.6%); it is inconvenient for special groups such as the elderly and children to make reservations (24.3%); there are many restrictions on time-based reservations, and they will be invalid if the time is missed (19.8%), etc.

Scenic spot ticket reservations should be made online and offline in parallel, with equal emphasis on efficiency and temperature.

"Sometimes I know I need to make a reservation, but I don't know where to make it. The reservation system for scenic spots in some places is too scattered now." Every time Zhang Guoguo travels, she first checks the ticket reservation guide on social media. She hopes that the local cultural and tourism department can sort out the ticket reservation information for each scenic spot for tourists, "such as which attractions require reservations, when to make reservations, and through which channels" to help tourists better arrange their itinerary.

Wei Jiatong, who was born after 1995 in Hubei, hopes to improve relevant reservation channels to prevent "scalpers" from seizing the ticket purchase quotas of ordinary tourists. "These 'scalpers' hoard the tickets in their hands, but tourists who really want to go can't get tickets." When she visited an art museum before, she discovered that she could make scheduled reservations on-site through an offline QR code. "Although I saw online that the tickets for the day were no longer available, I went to the site at two o'clock in the afternoon to scan the QR code and still successfully made a reservation. Moreover, the code is updated once a day, which not only facilitates the audience who go directly to the site, but also prevents scalpers from scalping tickets."

From the perspective of making it easier for tourists to visit, how do you hope the scenic spot can improve its ticket reservations? The survey shows that 69.5% of the respondents hope to improve the reservation and ticketing system to prevent "snatchers" and "scalpers" from crowding out normal ticket purchase quotas; 57.8% of the respondents hope to combine online reservations with on-site ticket purchase to meet the needs of different groups of people; 55.4% of the respondents hope to improve the waiting list and queue filling functions, and automatically notify someone of refunded tickets. In addition, releasing tickets in different time periods and staggering reservations to avoid system lags caused by concentrated ticket grabbing (48.9%); increasing the supply of tickets to popular scenic spots and holidays and optimizing passenger flow control (39.6%); setting up convenient passages for special groups such as the elderly and children (26.8%); local cultural and tourism departments integrating scenic spot reservation information and releasing it in a timely manner (19.6%) are also improvement measures that respondents are looking forward to.

"Ticket reservations for scenic spots should be made online and offline in parallel, with equal emphasis on efficiency and warmth." Zhan Dongmei, associate researcher at the China Tourism Academy, suggested in an interview with a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily, "First, the reservation operation process can be simplified to avoid multiple registrations and repeated operations, and the interface and process can be optimized; second, the needs of special groups can be taken into account, manual windows, telephone reservations and on-site assistance can be retained to improve age-friendly and barrier-free services; third First, it can optimize time-scheduled reservations, scientifically set up cancellation and change rules, and establish a dynamic number allocation, waiting list, and flexible quota mechanism; fourth, it can improve the linkage of supporting information, clarify information about remaining tickets, admission, transportation, parking, etc., and promote the linkage of reservations with public transportation and parking management; fifth, it can strengthen the protection of personal information and unblock consultation and complaint channels. Through system improvement and technology optimization, reservations can be made more convenient, fairer, and more predictable. "

During popular tourist periods such as holidays, winter and summer vacations, she also suggested that scenic spots can implement time-sharing reservations, dynamic adjustment and early warning issuance to guide off-peak travel; extend opening hours, open more channels, optimize routes, strengthen traffic connections, parking guidance and order maintenance; add volunteer, medical, maternal and child, cleaning and other services; launch night tours, performances, off-peak discounts and other products to promote diversion; strengthen market supervision, complaint handling and emergency plans to safeguard the rights and interests of tourists. This ensures travel convenience and enhances the travel experience.

Among the respondents, 19.1% were born after 00, 43.7% were born after 90, 28.9% were born after 80, 7.4% were born after 70, and 0.9% were born in other age groups. 36.1% live in first-tier cities, 38.2% in second-tier cities, 18.9% in third- and fourth-tier cities, 5.2% in counties or towns, and 1.6% in rural areas.

(At the request of the interviewees, Wei Jiatong and Zhang Guoguo are pseudonyms)