Sanya Curbs Price Hikes By Hoteliers

As of January 1, 2011 the Sanya Commodity Price Bureau, has approved room rates for 139 hotels in Sanya for the upcoming 2011 Spring Festival, which falls on February 2, 2011.

According to the regulations, which are published online, the highest room price is CNY6,600 per night. The bureau said that it will finish checking all hotels' rates systems before January 25.

The bureau said that hoteliers are not permitted to raise room rates by more than 10 percent from their average rates for Jan 27, 2009.

However, there are still some hotels' room rates that will exceed the highest rate of CNY6,600. For example one beach villa is priced at CNY51,000 per night including service fees.

In response, the local tourism authorities have said that the room rates are reasonable as Spring Festival is the high season for Sanya, and Sanya is one of the top travel destinations for domestic travelers in China.