Encourage tourists to spend, don't force them

The management company of Meili Snow Mountain has decided to open the Feilai Temple scenic spot to tourists for free. This is a welcome development after their earlier move to build a wall there that prevented tourists from seeing the snow mountain unless they bought a ticket to a spot beyond the wall. For weeks now, complaints against similar moves at many tourist sites have flooded the internet.

Some companies that are in charge of managing the sites have responded by saying they did so to protect the interests of local villagers, but the tourists know better.

Building a wall might stop tourists from viewing the scenery, but it can prove to be counter-productive instead of compelling tourists to buy tickets to view the same. They would rather express their dissatisfaction on social networking sites, dissuading more tourists from visiting the attractions, which means a big loss of reputation for the place and decreasing revenue for local villagers who make a living by selling souvenirs and trinkets.