Live delivery of goods, shoot short videos, become a research instructor, and help rural tourism projects——
Transformation of tour guides: changing jobs without changing careers, moving towards "one specialization and multiple abilities"
Our reporter Liu Shanshan
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The epidemic has accelerated the transformation and upgrading of the tourism industry, and the industry needs more high-quality talents.
Many tour guides are actively exploring the road of transformation. Whether they are entering the live broadcast studio or becoming a research instructor, they are learning new skills and are always prepared.
"Changbai Mountain is like a fairy tale world when the snow season arrives. You must feast your eyes at this time." "If you want to feel the speed and passion of the golden ski belt, Jilin can satisfy all your fantasies about powder snow"... Recently, 10 tourism practitioners entered "Hey Play Jilin Ice and Snow" live broadcast room, transformed into an anchor to sell Jilin tourism and vacation products online.
The epidemic has touched the freezing point of the tourism industry. The tour guides who were originally waiting for the return of the industry in spring face the dilemma of forced transformation under the background of the normalization of epidemic prevention and control.
However, in the face of difficulties, cultural travelers still wait for opportunities and seek breakthroughs with a positive attitude.
Recently, the reporter interviewed several senior tour guides who are using their own experience to explore transformation.
Travel + live broadcast, there are new opportunities in the transition period
After the outbreak, Cai Zhiyu, who was "leisure at home", filmed a series of short videos of special scenic spots in Changchun on his Douyin account with the theme of "pretend to travel", which was greatly welcomed by netizens.
As a result, more and more people began to ask her "where to go on weekends".
Cai Zhiyu has been engaged in the tourism industry for 13 years.
As the director of the Planning Department of Changchun Culture International Travel Service, the epidemic has forced her to consider transformation or find a new way to survive the crisis of survival.
Throughout the development of the industry, it has become a new trend for tour guides to turn into network anchors and come to the front of the stage.
"At that time, the Jilin Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism launched a cultural and tourism self-media "Double Hundred" support promotion activity, respectively selecting 100 unit accounts and personal accounts, and hiring experts for account diagnosis, mid- and long-term planning and traffic support. I followed to learn and exchange. , Benefited a lot." Cai Zhiyu said.
In March of this year, Cai Zhiyu also set up a live broadcast team to start live broadcast of travel products. The tour guides of the travel agency changed their tricks to introduce the beautiful scenery, food, and good things to the public.
The team also moved the offline promotion meeting to the live broadcast platform. "The number of offline events is limited, time is limited, and the live broadcast audience is wider, and customers can ask questions at any time, and the anchor can answer at any time. The effect is particularly good." As of now, their team has broadcast 17 live broadcasts. The highest single audience was nearly 10,000, which led to a turnover of about 300,000 yuan.
Not long ago, the Jilin Provincial Tourism Association held the "Cultural and Tourism Public Welfare Lecture Hall-Let's Play Live and Bring Goods Together" training, attracting more than 100 cultural and tourism practitioners in the province to participate.
Wu Di, a senior tour guide who has switched careers, has never given up on the tourism industry. In her spare time, she still insists on leading a group or as an instructor in scenic spots. She also made a one-month short video and live broadcast, telling the history of Changchun People’s Street and the Puppet Manchurian Palace. The story attracted more than 10,000 fans.
Upon learning of the event, she specially asked for leave to attend the training.
She said: "I believe that after the epidemic is over, the tourism industry will usher in better development opportunities. I will always be ready to return to this industry!"
Market segmentation, tour guides change jobs without changing careers
In his spare time, Wu Di often watched live broadcasts of internet celebrity tour guides to learn.
She told reporters that although this new marketing method is the general trend, it is not easy to do it and requires a lot of effort.
The reporter learned that in the beginning, the income of tour guides and anchors mainly depended on fans' rewards. Now the bonus period has passed, and the general way of revenue is to sell local products in the live broadcast room.
From the actual situation, the tour guide anchors still have problems such as low traffic, weak brand communication, and poor performance in bringing goods.
However, the professional transformation of tour guides is much more than that.
"The tourism market continues to be segmented, providing new employment opportunities, such as research instructors, rural tourism project assistants, etc. Many tour guides have not changed careers even though they have changed jobs." Cai Zhiyu said.
Li Yuhang, who passed the tour guide certificate in 2004 and started bringing inbound and outbound delegations after graduation, spent more than half a year at home after the outbreak. Seeing that there is no hope of leading the tour in a short time, he has also found other jobs.
However, when his old club started doing research and tourism projects, he seized the opportunity to return to the company and was responsible for the marketing management of the kindergarten sector.
"The span is still quite large, and the target groups are different, and the focus of work is also different." Li Yuhang said.
In order to adapt to the new position as soon as possible, he learned from his predecessors while consulting a large amount of information for self-learning.
Wu Zhanjun, who also devoted himself to studying tourism projects, lectured on courses in industry, agriculture, archaeology, and gastronomy.
Thanks to his rich experience and stress-resistant ability as a tour guide, it took him less than a month to adapt to the new job.
"I also thought about doing other jobs, but in the end I was not willing to leave the tourism industry. This job requires a wide range of knowledge, and I have to constantly recharge and learn to present a perfect course." Wu Zhanjun said.
The tour guide of the future will move towards "one specialization, multiple abilities"
"The epidemic has accelerated the transformation and upgrading of the tourism industry, and the industry needs high-quality talents." In Cai Zhiyu's view, an excellent tour guide has many advantages, such as strong language expression and communication skills, and a better personal image.
"No matter how the environment and the market change, good tour guides can find opportunities to adapt quickly."
Cai Zhiyu believes that in the future, tour guides will move toward "one specialization, multiple skills", no matter which position in the tourism industry, they can play an important role.
When studying at the school, students majoring in tourist guides should not only lay a solid professional foundation, but also constantly add new skills in line with the development of the times.
“In the future, tour guides don’t need to wait for travel agency appointments, but use word-of-mouth to compete for the market.” Li Yuhang said, students who have taken the tour guide certificate in the past will be able to lead the group in a few days. In the future, those who are not good at learning skills will be eliminated by the market. Then there is the youth meal. You must have a certain amount of experience and accumulation to meet tourists' requirements for high-quality services." He also suggested that college education should not only stay on campus, but should organize social practice and provide internship opportunities as much as possible. Help students majoring in tourist guides understand the current situation of the industry as soon as possible, and integrate with society and the market.
In the process of trying to shoot short videos and do live broadcasts, Cai Zhiyu specially applied for a lot of online classes, and often found opportunities to exchange and learn with the "big V" around him.
She said: “There are many learning channels in the Internet age. The key is to actively participate in it, and believe that every time you acquire a new skill, you can open a new window.”
"Don't be discouraged by the epidemic. The difficulties will eventually pass. The demand for tourists will continue to be customized and high-end. Guides are required to have higher quality. We must be prepared at all times to seize opportunities." Wu Zhanjun said.