Tourism "warm sun": Travel agencies work overtime to customize routes, the boss calls employees to "return to the team"

　　"The tourism market is back with blood." At 11:00 p.m., Lin Xue, who had just worked overtime to complete the product line, was a little tired, but extremely excited.

　　Recently, Lin Xue's phone rang non-stop.

In addition to frequent calls from customers to inquire when travel agencies will restart travel routes, practitioners such as dedicated line personnel, local escorts, and scenic spots hotels who have cooperated before have also continuously handed over olive branches for cooperation.

　　"The market boom is coming, hurry up and come up with product solutions." A partner urged her urgently.

　　After three years, the tourism market recovered rapidly, igniting the New Year's Day holiday.

And this is just the prelude. Starting from January 8, my country has fully opened up entry. According to the same journey travel data, the number of entry and exit air ticket orders on that day once increased by 628% year-on-year, setting a peak since March 2020.

On this day, the first stage of customs clearance between Hong Kong, China and the Mainland was achieved, making Hong Kong, China, the number one place of departure for inbound air tickets.

　　Positive policies superimpose the Spring Festival, and the tourism market is starting a carnival.

The huge business opportunities brought about by the market explosion have also become opportunities in the eyes of practitioners who have been silent for many years.

For a time, more and more travel agencies became active.

Lao Liu is determined to come back. When he was interviewed by a reporter from the Beijing News Shell Finance, he was already busy renting offices, recruiting troops and building a team, and preparing for the opening of a travel agency.

　　As far as Lao Liu is concerned, this return is only to regain the once lost market when the industry recovers.

"Poetry and the distance" tide

　　Lying comfortably on the beach in Sanya, drinking the coconut juice in his hand, and watching his friends laughing and playing in the distant sea, Jiang Ke deeply felt the long-lost New Year's Eve fun.

　　"In previous years, every New Year's Day, I would choose to travel for New Year's Eve. Due to the epidemic, I have not traveled far for more than two years. Now I have to have fun for a few days to make up for the lost fun." Jiang Ke told the Shell Finance reporter.

　　As the first small long holiday in 2023, tourism has become the first choice of many people during the New Year's Day, and they go to the "New Year's Eve resort" in their hearts.

　　"I can clearly feel that more people are coming out to play." Tang Chen, a post-90s generation who also chose to travel on New Year's Day, was very impressed. On the plane to Yunnan, he found that the cabin was full of passengers. It’s a bit higher than before, but it can’t stop everyone’s enthusiasm for traveling.”

　　A Hangzhou online car-hailing driver also told the Shell Finance reporter that he received far more orders during the New Year’s Day than usual. “There are almost 100 orders every day. Often the last order has not been completed, and the system prompts the next order to come in.” Yes. The destinations of the guests are mostly hotels and scenic spots.”

　　The long-lost travel has caused a surge in the number of tourists in many cities during the New Year's Day.

According to calculations by the Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, during the New Year's Day holiday in 2023, there will be 52.7134 million domestic travel trips nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 0.44%.

Realized domestic tourism revenue of 26.517 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.0%.

　　In addition, Ctrip's 2023 New Year's Day holiday summary report shows that nearly 60% of users choose to travel across provinces, and the number of cross-border air ticket bookings on New Year's Day increased by 145% year-on-year.

According to data from the Fliggy platform, orders for inter-provincial and inter-city tours during the New Year’s Day holiday accounted for nearly 80% of the total, reaching a peak in nearly a year.

Among them, the young users of the "post-90s" and "post-00s" are the main travellers.

　　Traveling is undoubtedly a hot word at the moment.

A reporter from Shell Finance and Economics searched on social platforms and found that many netizens were discussing travel plans, or sharing itineraries and arrangements.

In addition, posts such as "The sea view here is amazing, very suitable for couples' New Year's Eve" and "The favorite resort in China, there is no one" also attracted attention.

While bloggers share exquisite landscape photos in their articles, they also add detailed itinerary texts.

The replies are full of messages asking for strategy sharing and asking for prices.

　　"Whenever the idea of ​​traveling came up in my heart before, I always had to rely on old photos and videos to 'satisfy'." Tang Chen told the Shell Finance reporter that he had not traveled for two years, and chose to stay at home even on holidays.

Given the rare opportunity now, I naturally hope to have a good time, "I have no idea of ​​saving money at all, so I just want to have fun."

　　"Consumers' pursuit has brought vitality to the recovery of the tourism market." Han Ke, who runs an international travel agency, said, "Everyone is holding back their energy and preparing to do a big job in the next time."

　　Many tour guides said in interviews with Shell Finance reporters that due to climate reasons, tourists usually choose to go to Sanya, Yunnan and other places for vacation during New Year’s Day and Spring Festival, which indirectly drives up air ticket and hotel prices.

　　On January 9, a reporter from Shell Finance and Economics searched on the OTA (generally refers to online travel) platform and found that the prices of air tickets to Sanya from all over the world showed an upward trend.

Taking the departure from Hangzhou as an example, most of the air tickets to Sanya are full-price tickets of 2,290 yuan, calculated from the Spring Festival statutory holiday.

The prices of many hotels also showed an upward trend during the Spring Festival.

Among them, Sanya Phoenix Island Resort Hotel senior sea view big bed room usually priced at 924 yuan, the New Year's Eve check-in price was 1689 yuan.

　　It is worth noting that during the search, the Shell Finance reporter found that most of the hotel rooms were "sold out" during the Spring Festival.

"If you want to stay in a good hotel and room during the Spring Festival, basically you can only rely on 'picking up'." A tour guide said.

　　Hotels in Yunnan and other places are also sought after.

According to Ctrip platform data, the average hotel price in Xishuangbanna during the New Year's Day holiday was 804 yuan, a price increase of 1.7 times.

Dali Hotel rose by 36%, with an average price of 601 yuan.

Travel agencies

　　The vent is back.

This is the most profound understanding of Lao Liu, a veteran travel agency practitioner.

　　In January 2023, Lao Liu issued a "comeback" declaration in his circle of friends, intending to fight again.

In the past 10 years, Lao Liu took root in the international tourism industry and led tourists to dozens of countries every year.

　　"The last time I brought a group back from France, I was notified and began to wait at home." Lao Liu experienced three years of ups and downs, from waiting and watching in the first year, to entering the domestic tourism field in the second year, and finally in the third year when the company Unsustainable.

After finishing the break-up meal, Lao Liu turned around and found a nine-to-five job.

　　On the second day when he was determined to come back, Lao Liu submitted a letter of resignation to the company, "I have been working hard in the industry for so many years, and I am reluctant to give up completely. Sometimes I dream of taking a group trip at night. After hearing the news of the market recovery, Definitely choose to come back.”

　　Lao Liu intensively rented offices, recruited troops and built a team, and prepared for the opening of the travel agency.

He also called his former employees, hoping that everyone could "fight again".

　　"In the past three years, the tourism industry has indeed lost a lot of talents." Lao Liu told the Shell Finance reporter that the travel agency needs to restart quickly. The key factor at the moment is whether the team can be reorganized. After gradually adapting to the new job, many people are reluctant to return."

　　A reporter from Shell Finance interviewed many people who were previously engaged in outbound travel work and found that they still have a wait-and-see attitude towards "return".

　　"I did outbound travel for many years before, and then I left and went to a short video company to be responsible for the content. After more than a year, I have gotten used to the work rhythm." After receiving a call from Lao Liu, Amu hesitated and finally declined the invitation. "I've almost lost everything I had before, and now I have to get used to it when I go back. It's really unnecessary."

　　A former practitioner who switched to an Internet company in 2021 also admitted to the Shell Finance reporter that he is unlikely to be engaged in the tourism industry again. "Now the income is similar to before, and the job is more stable. I really don't want to go back."

　　Lao Liu didn't care if he failed to call back all the former employees as he wished.

Soon after reopening the travel agency, he has received many resumes, many of whom are "old people" with many years of working experience. "There are still many practitioners who hope to return to the industry. After all, with the recovery of the market, there will be a large number of tourists going abroad Playing games is bound to continue to push the market to a climax.”

　　Returning decisively is also the choice of many people.

　　"It's finally today." Guo Miao, who has just registered with the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, looks excited. She has lived in Japan for more than 10 years. After returning to China, she opened a travel agency with her friends, specializing in routes to Japan and South Korea. She once traveled overseas with domestic tourists. The peak period was hugely profitable.

　　Although the travel agency will be shut down at the end of 2020, Guo Miao has been waiting for the opportunity for the industry to recover. "In the past two years, he has been paying attention to industry news at almost any time, and has been in touch with domestic and foreign ground operators, hotels and other resources. He is looking forward to this day. Come early."

Waiting for the outbreak of the "next stop", customized routes rush outbound travel

　　Starting from January 8, as China's policy of canceling inbound nucleic acid testing and centralized isolation, and optimizing personnel exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macau came into effect, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other airports ushered in the first batch of overseas flights after the adjustment of epidemic prevention policies.

　　The full liberalization of entry has stimulated consumer enthusiasm and ignited the outbound tourism industry that has been stagnant for three years.

Han Ke is experiencing the busiest start of the new year.

A few minutes ago, she just hung up the consultation call from the sixth customer in a day, "Recently, I have received a lot of calls, all of which are to inquire about traveling abroad."

　　"Outbound travel has finally been reopened after many years, and many people hope to travel abroad as soon as possible." Han Ke told the Shell Finance reporter that players who are keen on traveling recently will choose domestic attractions, but they also hope to travel abroad.

The recovery of the industry will drive a wave of market outbreaks.

　　Lin Xue is in charge of customized project planning for an international travel agency. She told the Shell Finance reporter that the current market is gradually recovering. However, due to objective reasons such as "flight supply" and "ticket prices", it will take at least 3 months to fully achieve the previous situation. time.

　　"The current number of international flights in China is much lower than in 2019." Lin Xue predicted, "Affected by this, the price of entry and exit air tickets is relatively high, and most tourists may choose to continue to wait and see due to such reasons."

　　A reporter from Shell Finance and Economics found from a number of OTA platforms that the price of air tickets for outbound travel has risen significantly recently compared to before.

Taking the direct flight from Hangzhou to Phuket as an example, during January 2023, most of the naked air tickets range from 2,000 yuan to 3,500 yuan, while the return price is 3,000 yuan to 6,000 yuan, and the air ticket price on some dates is tens of thousands of yuan.

This means that in the past 3,000 yuan can go to and from Phuket Island, but now it costs at least 10,000 yuan.

　　"This is only a single item of air tickets. If hotels, travel and other expenses are added, the total cost of traveling alone is likely to be 20,000 to 30,000 yuan." Lin Xue said.

　　The high cost did not dampen the enthusiasm of the travel agency. Lin Xue and her colleagues are still working overtime to make travel plans.

　　"Recently, I have been busy almost every day until 10 o'clock in the evening." Lin Xue's company mainly focuses on overseas travel, and almost everyone is busy calling the previously cooperated hotels, local escorts and other resources to communicate about the work after the restart , and integrate each other's resources to design new product routes.

　　"At present, we are mainly designing and launching relevant travel plans for the Southeast Asian market." Lin Xue told the Shell Finance reporter that the reason why Southeast Asian countries were chosen as the first stop is that their entry policies for Chinese tourists are relatively loose, and some destinations can not only Free of quarantine and able to apply for a tourist visa on arrival, it has naturally become the first choice for many domestic tourists.

　　"Now it's a race against time and peers." Lin Xue analyzed that everyone hopes to be the first to make profits after the market recovers. At present, the company's biggest challenge is how to adapt to the new market. "Most of the previously designed routes are relatively old. , the quality also varies according to the tour fare, but now, based on the judgment that 'most of the first batch of travel customers are not sensitive to price and care more about quality', we have designed a more suitable itinerary for them to play."

　　The Shell Finance reporter learned that Lin Xue's company has begun to seize some exclusive resources.

"We have signed agreements with some overseas cooperative hotels and scenic spots, which is more conducive to attracting customers at low prices while reducing costs." Lin Xue said.

　　Han Ke also told the Shell Finance reporter that she is contacting the overseas escorts she has worked with before to design travel routes for tourists.

Unlike before, where she was mainly looking at flowers on horseback, and was more inclined to take tourists to traditional attractions, this time she deliberately focused on products such as in-depth culture and outdoor immersive experience.

"Tourists in the initial stage of outbound tourism recovery are mainly individuals and small groups, and they pay more attention to the quality of play."

　　"It is not ruled out that the supply will increase in the future as the situation of domestic entry and exit changes, and routes will be formulated according to the needs of different customers at that time, but at present, priority must be given to niche groups with more intentions to travel abroad." Han Ke said.

Homestay orders are busy

30

"

　　"The business has finally picked up in the past few days, and I hope it will get better and better in the future." Li Li, who opened a homestay near Hangzhou, Zhejiang, excitedly wrote "Finally back" in his circle of friends.

　　Four years ago, Li Li, who likes to travel, resigned and bought an inn near Hangzhou for nearly one million yuan, starting his own homestay life.

　　"The business was good at the beginning, with an occupancy rate of almost 40% every day." Li Li recalled that despite the fierce market competition at that time, he relied on the resources accumulated in his years of travel friends and the promotion through short videos, pictures, texts and other channels. , the business is not bad, "Especially during the peak tourist season, the rooms will be fully booked. It even takes a week in advance to book a room."

　　During the three-year long trough period, Li Li had planned to transfer the homestay countless times, but he was always unwilling.

"I always feel that hope will still come, and I don't want to choose to leave before dawn."

　　On December 7, 2022, the "New Ten Articles" and a series of policies were promulgated, and the long-awaited day came for homestay practitioners.

　　With the initial recovery of the tourism market, the occupancy rate of hotels and homestays in many places has increased significantly.

According to the data of Tujia homestay, from December 30, 2022 to January 2, 2023, the average daily increase of homestay bookings will reach 20%, which is a 2-fold increase from the previous month.

In addition, the proportion of consecutive stay orders nationwide also increased by 341%.

Among them, in relatively warm cities such as Xishuangbanna, Xi'an, Dali, Sanya, and Beihai, the number of homestay bookings for more than 3 days increased by more than 6 times compared with the previous year.

　　"Recently, I have received a lot of order calls. At most, I received more than 30 orders a day, which was unimaginable before." Zhang Yu, who runs a homestay in Yunnan, said that he and many colleagues have received orders in recent days. We received reservation calls, and almost all the rooms with good orientations were sold out, and many customers inquired about booking rooms during the Spring Festival.

　　Zhang Yu told the Shell Finance reporter that there have been scattered orders in the past three years, but there are still fewer orders than before. Now it is obvious that the industry is gradually recovering.

After careful calculation, he expects the occupancy rate to reach 80% or higher during the Spring Festival. "I used to worry about no orders, but now I worry about insufficient staff."

　　With the outbreak of orders, Zhang Yu is more and more looking forward to the future. "Although the market has recovered, from the point of view, it will take at least 3 months for the real outbreak to happen."

　　Ctrip released a report on January 5 that bookings for travel products during the Spring Festival rose by 45% year-on-year, and per capita travel spending increased by 53% year-on-year.

　　With the gradual recovery of passenger flow, all links in the tourism industry chain including car rental and catering have also recovered.

　　"Many tourists prefer to travel independently. After arriving at the destination, they usually rent a car for convenience." The person in charge of a car rental company in Zhejiang told the Shell Finance reporter that nearly 70% of the vehicles in the store were rented by tourists during the New Year's Day. A phone call to reserve a vehicle during the Spring Festival.

"Many peers are exchanging information on vehicles to make cooperation plans in advance, so as to avoid the situation of 'no car to rent'."

　　The owner of a restaurant in the suburbs of Hangzhou also felt that the business was picking up significantly. "Although there were guests on New Year's Day the previous year, the number and scale obviously couldn't compare with this year. The performance of the hotel during the three-day holiday has also more than doubled compared to last year."

　　"With the recovery of the tourism industry, the surrounding market will definitely continue to explode in the future." Li Li analyzed, "The previous three years were a reshuffle of the industry, and it also gave operators a chance to think deeply. Now that the market is recovering, it will be possible in the short term. Not being able to catch it is a challenge for practitioners. After all, in order to regain a foothold in the future, in addition to the benefits of market recovery, it will also test the ability of operators themselves.”