Dalat Railway Station entrance fee will increase 10 times, what do tourists say?

According to the announcement of the Saigon Railway Operation Branch under the Vietnam Railway Corporation - the unit managing and operating Da Lat Station, from 0:00 on October 1, at Da Lat Station, the ticket price will be 50,000 VND/person/trip for adults (over 6 years old), free tickets for children under 6 years old (under 1.32 m tall) and people with severe disabilities according to Government regulations.

Da Lat Railway Station was recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a tourist destination with the name "Da Lat Railway Station" on June 21.

This ticket price is only valid for sightseeing, entertainment and using some free services in the Da Lat Railway Station architectural relic area, not including passenger transport service by train from Da Lat to Trai Mat.

The Saigon Railway Exploitation Branch explained that this fare increase is to mobilize resources and supplement funds to maintain, repair and renovate the station to match the national architectural works and enhance the image of the tourist station as well as increase the amenities serving tourists coming to Da Lat Station.

Currently, to visit Da Lat Station, people only have to spend 5,000 VND/person.

Da Lat train station is at risk of being "as deserted as Ba Danh market"?

Ms. Lan, a resident of Da Lat City, was quite surprised that Da Lat Station will soon apply a price of 50,000 VND/person for sightseeing, 10 times higher than the current price. There are no services in the station other than taking pictures with the train or visiting the ancient station architecture. Other services such as coffee and taking the Da Lat - Trai Mat train all require separate fees.

Besides visiting the ancient train and the station architecture, Da Lat Station does not have many amenities for tourists to experience.

"If we force customers to buy this ticket, we have to add more amenities to make it more suitable, but now everything is the same. If I had to choose, spending 50,000 VND would be almost the same as drinking coffee at Thuy Ta or experiencing a duck ride on Xuan Huong Lake," said Ms. Lan.

Mr. Tuong Huu Loc, Chairman of Lam Dong Tourism Association, said that when Da Lat Station is recognized as a tourist destination, it must follow tourism regulations. However, this announcement may cause "shock" not only to the people, tourists and travel agencies.

According to Mr. Loc, up to now, people and tourists have been very familiar with the old prices, so suddenly applying them like this feels like disrespecting customers, because if you want to increase prices, there must be a roadmap for people to gradually adapt.

Moreover, tour operators usually offer tours to tourists for at least 2 to 3 months or even a whole year. Now suddenly applying such prices, the business unit can hardly ask customers to pay more.

"Now, the tour operator has already sold the tour at that price, and now bringing in customers costs money for tickets. If they bring in 1,000 customers, the tour operator will have to shoulder 45 million VND. This will put the travel agency at risk of having to change locations, possibly excluding Da Lat Station from the customer's itinerary."

Tourists experience the Da Lat - Trai Mat tourist train.

A representative of another tourism business assessed that applying this price puts both the management of Da Lat Station and the travel agency in a difficult position. In particular, when Da Lat Station is recognized as a tourist destination, the management unit must apply operating procedures, train staff, invest in upgrading facilities, etc. according to the provisions of the Tourism Law. And these things all require capital investment, which is a difficult position for the management unit.

As for the locals, tourists and travel agencies, they are used to the old prices when Da Lat Railway Station was not yet a tourist destination. Now, applying such a sudden entrance fee may make people remove this famous place from their travel plans.

Da Lat Station is the starting point on the Lam Dong side of the 84 km long Thap Cham - Da Lat cog railway connecting Lam Dong with Ninh Thuan, one of two cog railways built in the world (the remaining cog railway is in Switzerland).

Dalat Railway Station was built from 1932 to 1938 at an altitude of 1,500 m above sea level and is considered the most beautiful railway station in Vietnam.

On June 21, Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 1061/QD-UBND to recognize the "Da Lat Railway Station" tourist destination. Currently, there is a tourist train route of more than 7km long, Da Lat - Trai Mat.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/gia-tham-quan-ga-da-lat-se-tang-gap-10-lan-du-khach-noi-sao-19624091112425826.htm