Skyrocketing hotel rates in Hainan province during the Spring Festival holiday scared away tourists and tainted Hainan’s image. Hotels in Sanya, a city in Hainan, only had a 60% occupancy rate, down from 90% in previous years.
Prices for a single-night stay at five-star hotels in Hainan decreased to below $146 after exceeding $2,928 before the holiday.
The highest price for a room at the Hilton Sanya Resort in Sanya, a coastal resort city on the island province, was $3,264 on February 14, but it decreased to $446 on February 25th.
Media reports said local tour agencies had booked thousands of hotel rooms and hoped to sell them to tourists at a premium.
China Daily reports that those who thought to make a profit from hotel rooms suffered huge losses. Haikou Civil Holiday, a local large travel service, booked at least 1,000 hotel rooms in Sanya. But more than 200 rooms remained vacant during the holiday, incurring a loss of $216,000, said General Manager Jiang Yueqin.
English.cri.cn reported that Dong Debiao, the deputy director of the Hainan Pricing Control Bureau, said the province is exploring a long-term mechanism to stabilize the market price in the province.