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The Saigon Railway Exploitation Branch of the Vietnam Railways Corporation – the management and exploitation unit of Da Lat Railway Station, announced that from 0:00 on October 1st, the station will apply an entrance fee of 50,000 VND/person/turn for adults (over 6 years old), free for children under 6 years old (under 1.32m) and especially severe disabled people as prescribed by the Government.

This fee only includes sightseeing, entertainment, and some free services within the Da Lat Railway Station architectural relic site, excluding tourist passenger transport services by Da Lat – Trai Mat train.

The Saigon Railway Exploitation Branch explained that this price increase aims to mobilize resources and supplement funds for the maintenance, repair, and restoration of the station to match the national architectural relic and enhance the image of the tourist station, as well as add more utilities to serve visitors to Da Lat Railway Station.

Currently, the entrance fee to visit Da Lat Railway Station is only 5,000 VND/person.

Will Da Lat Railway Station Become a Deserted Place?

Ms. Lan, a resident of Da Lat City, was quite surprised that Da Lat Railway Station will soon apply an entrance fee of 50,000 VND/person, ten times the current price. There are no other services inside the station except for taking photos with the train or visiting the ancient architecture. Other services such as coffee and the Da Lat – Trai Mat train ride are charged separately.

“If visitors are required to buy this ticket, there should be more amenities to match the price. But now, everything remains the same. If I had to choose, I would rather spend that 50,000 VND on a cup of coffee at Thuy Ta or pedal boating on Xuan Huong Lake” – said Ms. Lan.

Mr. Tuong Huu Loc, Chairman of Lam Dong Tourism Association, stated that since Da Lat Railway Station has been recognized as a tourist attraction, it must comply with tourism regulations. However, this announcement might come as a “shock” not only to the locals and tourists but also to travel agencies.

According to Mr. Loc, the old price has been familiar to the people and tourists for a long time, and this sudden change might give an impression of disrespect to customers. If they wanted to increase the price, there should be a roadmap to gradually adapt.

Moreover, travel agencies usually offer tours to customers at least 2 to 3 months in advance or even a year. With this unexpected price change, it is challenging for businesses to ask customers to pay extra.

“Now, the tour operators have already sold the tours at the old price, and when they bring customers to the station, they have to pay for the tickets themselves. If they have 1,000 customers, the business has to bear 45 million VND. This situation may force travel agencies to change the itinerary and possibly exclude Da Lat Railway Station from the schedule.”

A representative of another travel company commented that with this price application, both the Da Lat Railway Station management and travel agencies would face challenges. When Da Lat Railway Station was recognized as a tourist attraction, the management unit had to apply the operating procedures, train the staff, and invest in upgrading the facilities according to the Tourism Law. These tasks require capital investment, which is the difficulty for the management unit.

For the people, tourists, and travel businesses who have been accustomed to the old price when Da Lat Railway Station was not a tourist business, this sudden change in the entrance fee might cause them to remove this famous destination from their travel plans.