TOURISTS have slammed Sentosa's Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom, grousing about its inflated ticket price and 'forced' photo taking, Lianhe Wanbao reported on Friday.

Four attractions in Sentosa have raised prices this month from $1 to $6, with the Butterfly Park having the biggest hike of 60 per cent, from $10 to $16 for an adult ticket.

Included now in the ticket price is either a free 6R photo with new exhibits like the parrots and macaws, or a hot dog and soft drink meal.

Park visitors interviewed by Wanbao say they find the price increase during such poor economic times difficult to understand. The souvenir photo session feels 'forced' and on the other hand, not everyone wants a hot dog, they add.

Wanbao reporter Yang Meng spent a day at Sentosa, and only noticed some 20 visitors to the Butterfly Park in a span of two hours.

More than half of them were on a package deal to visit four Sentosa attractions for $35, and said they would not have come to the Butterfly Park otherwise.

Those who paid the full ticket price felt it was too pricey.

Ms Li, a 29-year old visitor from China, said she finished touring the park in just 30 minutes and even though the species of butterflies were diverse, a more realistic charge would be $8.

The general manager for the Butterfly Park told Wanbao that the last price hike was in 2000, from $6 to $10.

Since then, facilities have been upgraded and last year, a new parrot-feeding attraction was introduced.

The decision to include an additional souvenir photo or a hot dog meal in the raised ticket price was based on the poorer economic situation, and to give visitors more value.