The Consumers’ Foundation yesterday questioned whether it is reasonable for tickets to Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance performance in Taiwan to be eight-and-a-half times more expensive than in the US.
In recent years, many overseas groups have brought popular musicals and dance productions to Taiwan, including the Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Lord of the Dance.
However, the consumer rights watchdog has received many complaints about the high cost of the tickets, especially when compared with countries such as Japan and the US.
The foundation said that compared with the US and Japan, not only is the nominal value of the ticket price in Taiwan higher, but when factoring in different countries’ GDP, Taiwanese audiences end up paying a much higher price to enjoy the shows.
The foundation’s survey of ticket prices showed that tickets to the Phantom of the Opera, which ranged from NT$800 to NT$6,600, costs 2.4 times as much as for shows in South Korea, and about 1.9 times as much as in the UK and Japan. Tickets for the Lord of the Dance performance ranged from NT$800 to NT$4,800, which was higher than in most other countries, except in Germany, where the best seats cost about NT$5,956 and in Austria, where premium tickets cost NT$5,919.
When adjusting for each country’s GDP to determine real prices as compared with each country’s purchasing power, the foundation found that Taiwanese had to pay 4.9 times as much as Japanese to watch the Phantom of the Opera, and 8.5 times as much as US audiences to watch the Lord of the Dance.
“Compared with most of the other countries [where the shows were performed], Taiwan has a relatively low GDP. When we factor in this fact, we find that ticket prices in Taiwan are even more overpriced,” foundation vice chairperson Joann Su (蘇錦霞) said.
Aside from over-priced tickets, the foundation also said that lost tickets are not re-issued or reimbursed, which was unfair to consumers.
The government should counsel businesses on making ticket pricing more transparent and fair, as well as creating a competitive environment to keep prices within a reasonable range, Su said.
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