CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Touring the Liangjiang (Yangtze River and Jialing River) has just become more convenient. Recently the Chongqing Liangjiang Tour Online Ticketing Public Service Platform went live. With it, not only can tourists purchase tickets via the WeChat Official Account of “重庆邮轮中心” (Chongqing Cruise Center), but also ticket price is made transparent.

Online ticketing makes ticket price more transparent

It is said that the Liangjiang Tour is one of the featured destinations in Chongqing. In 2017, 2.09 million people visited the city. However, as the market of Liangjiang Tour grows rapidly, unlawful acts are observed – scalpers were rampant and often caused cruise overloads, which made tourists tremendously upset. Because of this, the Chongqing Shipping Exchange, a third-party institution, set up the Liangjiang Tour Online Ticketing Public Service Platform.

The platform provides public services such as selling Liangjiang Tour tickets online, port inspection, tourists real name management, big-data analysis and developing smart travelling. As of now, online terminals are available from over 30 ticket agents and over 60 ticket offices in Chaotianmen, Jiefangbei, Hongyadong and Shapingba. WeChat Official Account and data exchange interface with Tuniu, Ctrip and Qunar have been set up. This means that tourists can purchase Liangjiang Tour tickets on site, via Wechat and on tourist guide websites like Tuniu.

Zhen Li, who is deputy group leader of the Cruise Planning Department of Chongqing Shipping Exchange said that tourists, after completing ticket purchasing online via Wechat or websites, will receive a retrieval code or QR code, with which they can board the ship by scanning.

Zheng said that these kinds of ticket selling machines are to be deployed more to relieve the trouble retrieving tickets. At the same time, electronic tickets were promoted, by then tourists are able to scan the QR code they receive before boarding the ship.

“At present Liangjiang Tour implements floating fare in accordance with the people flow of that time.” Zheng said. With online ticketing, prices are more transparent and ship overloads are effectively suppressed at the same time.

Pre-order tickets online suggestion: retrieve tickets at port 30min ahead

Tickets purchased via Wechat or websites can be refunded in a specific period, among which night tickets before 18:00 that day and daytime tickets two hours before departure. However, 20% of the fare shall be deducted when applying for a refund and no refund can be obtained if the deadline has passed.

Apart from that, worth noting is that because the Chaotianmen area is being renovated, the ports at which the Liangjiang Tour can be accessed are located somewhat far from transit stations. Thus a 30 minute grace period is suggested as you may need to wait in line for the tickets.