【Minsheng Investigation Bureau】

Editor's note: This is the Minsheng Investigation Bureau, which has never been seen before, and investigates the changes in people's livelihood. Focus on what you want to focus on and what you don't, investigate what you want to see and what you don't see.

Beijing, September 9 (Reporter Li Jinlei) On September 26, the topic of "9 yuan homestay was quietly adjusted to National Day 26 by the platform" appeared on Weibo's hot search, attracting attention.

According to media reports, recently in Lishui, Zhejiang, a homestay owner was shocked after opening the price page of his own homestay on a platform: the original 680 yuan a day guest room, without her knowledge, was adjusted by the platform to a National Day special price of 2780 yuan. The owner of the homestay said that it had been taken off the shelves, otherwise others would think that we were killing customers.

The owner of the homestay told Zhongxin Financial Reporter that his homestay has been open for more than 5 years, and the cumulative number of orders on the platform involved does not exceed 10. "I didn't use much before, and I wanted to promote it near the National Day, but I didn't expect the price to become 2780 yuan." This situation had not been encountered before, and the platform explained that it was a misoperation. ”

The owner of the homestay said that he had removed the homestay from the platform and would not be on the shelves in the short term. "I want to tell you that we don't kill customers, and also remind other merchants to always look at the situation of the platform."

Why do prices change suddenly?

Up to now, the platform involved has not publicly responded. However, according to the Beijing News "Emergency Call" report, the platform involved said that it was caused by the misoperation of the staff and has been revised and resolved.

Some homestay owners said that the price of homestays is generally regulated by themselves. And this homestay price adjustment incident is more strange.

Sun Xiaoqian, the manager of "an old friend" homestay, told Zhongxin Finance that "homestays generally adjust prices by themselves, and there has been no forced price increase by the platform." If you participate in some activities on the platform, such as new house discounts, the room fee received after the superimposed discount will be lower than expected, mainly because of the superimposed discount. "Although the platform will charge commissions, the platform prefers to list the lowest possible price on the platform than the high price, so as to attract more traffic and volume.

In this regard, some netizens suggested that you can call directly to inquire if you book a hotel and homestay, and then place an order if you think the price is suitable.

Infographic. Passenger pit stops. Photo by Zhang Chang, reporter of China News Agency

The rise in the price of hotels and homestays has attracted attention

Behind this incident is the public's concern about the rise in prices of National Day hotels and homestays.

The upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival National Day Super Golden Week, the masses have a strong willingness to travel. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism expects that judging from the current hot booking data on major platforms, the Mid-Autumn Festival National Day will usher in a peak period for mass travel.

According to online travel platform data, according to the forecast data of "November", as of September 9, the advance booking of travel products such as air tickets, hotels, tickets, and group tours in popular cities in China exceeded the same period in 15, and high-speed railways and hotels in popular tourist destinations were "in short supply".

However, the increase in the price of hotels and guesthouses during the National Day holiday has discouraged some consumers. According to the big data of an online travel platform, as of September 9, the average price paid by hotels in popular cities during the "November" holiday increased by 25% compared with 2019.

Zhongxin Financial Reporter searched for a homestay in Luoyang on an online booking platform on the 26th, a three-bedroom suite with a list price of about 359 yuan on weekdays, and the price of the "Eleventh" holiday rose to 1688 yuan.

Screenshot of the price of a homestay in Luoyang.

Another example is Shanghai Disneyland, an online booking platform shows that the deluxe garden view twin room of Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, which was still 9,26 yuan on September 3649, rose to 5634,<> yuan on National Day.

Yan Bing, a senior partner at Jiuhe Law Firm, said that hotels are affected by location, climate, holidays and other factors, and their prices will have wave-like fluctuations, which are normal market rules. However, if the business only seeks temporary economic benefits and does not increase the price, it may affect the consumption experience of tourists, and then have an indirect impact on the tourism industry in the place, even from the perspective of economic law, the price increase should be within a reasonable range.

In order to prevent the recurrence of behaviors that disrupt market order and infringe on consumer rights and interests, such as malicious renegation of contracts by individual merchants during the May Day holiday, the China Consumers Association and the China Hotel Association recently jointly proposed that business operators should set fair, legal and reasonable prices, fully protect consumers' right to fair transactions, and strictly abide by the relevant provisions of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests and the Price Law; Strictly abide by the relevant provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law, and shall not collude with each other, manipulate market prices, eliminate or restrict competition, and disrupt the order of market competition.

How to pick up leaks in National Day travel accommodation?

Despite the popularity of bookings for Eleven, there are still some missing destinations.

Qunar data shows that among the popular destinations of this year's "November", the average price paid by hotels during this year's "November" holiday is nearly 20% lower than that of the same period before the epidemic.

Platform data shows that at present, hotel reservations around popular tourist destinations are tight, and the reservation balance of city center hotels is relatively sufficient, and the minimum 500 yuan can stay in five-star luxury hotels. For example, the Great Wall Hotel Beijing is 633 yuan/night during the "Eleventh Day" holiday in Beijing, 723 yuan/night at the Grand Metropark Hotel, 454 yuan/night at the Oriental Jianguo Hotel in Wuhan, and 441 yuan/night at Hangzhou Fubang Lijia International Hotel.

Sun Xiaoqian revealed that the homestay he runs is near Universal Studios Beijing, and everyone expects that homestays in some areas of the National Day will be very popular, but in fact, the number of bookings for homestays around Universal Studios Beijing is far less than she expected, so the mainstream room types of her homestay have not increased in price. (End)