"Baby Solo Tour", how to let parents let go and rest assured?
Reading tips
In many WeChat groups of parents, the activity of recruiting children to travel independently is very popular.
Children aged six or seven take part in more day trips, and children over eight or nine years old are more willing to try multi-day trips.
Before the summer vacation, the registration climax of the children's summer camp has already quietly arrived.
Broaden your horizons, exercise courage, make friends, cultivate independence... Parents hope to cultivate their children's abilities through "Baby Solo Tour", but in fact, there are not many options for this type of activity on the market.
In contrast to the popularity of online platforms, traditional travel agencies are cautious. Most of them do not dare to organize too many activities of this type due to security and other factors.
The market response cannot keep up with the needs of parents, the unevenness of the activity experience and the concerns of parents about safety are issues worthy of consideration.
Before the summer vacation, the registration climax of the children's summer camp has already quietly arrived.
From all-day camps to solo camps for several days and nights, from water sports to underwater adventures, from natural outdoor themes to art and technology themes, and even picking, weight loss, attention training... the types of summer camps are dizzying.
The reporter consulted on a WeChat official account that specializes in children’s outings. The customer service staff said that this year’s summer domestic travel registration is very hot. “In May, we launched several summer baby solo activities for 7 days and 6 nights. Almost all of them have to be spiked. Can be registered.” At present, this project is no longer accepted for registration, and can only wait for a temporary quota to be vacated.
The reporter contacted a traditional tourism company in Haidian District, Beijing, and was told that there are not many children outings alone in the summer vacation. There are only a few two or three to choose from. Considering safety and other factors, travel agencies dare not organize too many recruitments. activity.
On the one hand is the hot registration of the online platform, on the other hand is the cautious summer camp of traditional travel agencies, which focuses on "baby solo travel". How should parents choose?
Fly solo as the new favorite of parents
"There is a day off on June 1st. Although the school has custody services, it is Children’s Day after all. It’s a bit unbearable to let children be taken care of at school for a day, but my love and I have to work." On May 31, I received the school’s holiday notice. Guo Jun (pseudonym) committed trouble.
She inadvertently turned over the parent WeChat group and found that the group was in the group tour registration solitaire: "Riding in the park, the original price is 568 yuan, and more than 12 people are 468 yuan. The car is picked up and sent. It requires a height of 125 cm or more and skilled riding ( Get on and off the car, brake and turn)..." When Guo Jun asked, it turned out that parents who didn't have time to spend the holiday with their children were organizing groups for their children to sign up for solo activities.
"The term'single flight' is particularly appropriate. When the child was two or three years old, we only focused on parent-child travel. Now that the child is older and has stiff wings, he can fly alone." Guo Jun told reporters that after a day’s cycling activities, The son is very happy, because the park is not far from home and most of the children in the group are classmates, so she can rest assured.
Xiaomei's mother has long been a "frequent visitor" of the baby's solo travel.
Xiaomei has independently participated in various activities since the first grade. During the epidemic last year, Xiaomei’s mother organized a group purchase group in the community. At the beginning, for the convenience of life, she mainly bought some daily necessities.
A while ago, Xiaomei’s mother tried to contact a children’s club to negotiate a plan from the club, and Xiaomei’s mother recruited to customize a solo plan for the children in the community.
Starting from the May Day holiday, they organized several holiday and weekend tours around the area, which are very popular with parents and children in the community.
"Compared with the activities of outside organizations, it is safer for children in the community to know each other and have parents involved in customization." Xiaomei told reporters that this is also the opinion of most parents. "Parents' WeChat group is where news spreads faster. , You can consult inside if you have any questions about your child, and there are always enthusiastic parents replying, especially some topics that everyone is generally concerned about. For example, summer vacation is coming soon, how to arrange summer vacation for children has become a hot topic, compared to outside For travel agencies in China, everyone prefers activities that have a good reputation in the parent group, because children have experienced it and they are more convincing."
Market response cannot keep up with demand
"I want to find a summer camp for my child to endure hardships and exercise, and let him go to the farmland to sweat like rain, and he will know how happy learning is." A child's father asked whether he had gone to the countryside to experience labor in the parent group. In the summer camp, "Military training, mountain climbing, cycling, and crossing the jungle. These are all exploring the unknown. Children are curious and more willing to play, but they have not experienced the boring and hard work of doing farm work. That is really tired. "The father's words instantly resonated with many parents.
Regrettably, this dad did not find such a summer camp as he wished. The reporter consulted with several agencies and did not get any results.
But letting children experience farming is the idea of many parents.
A mother told reporters that her daughter is in the third grade. She is the little princess of the family. She thinks it should be what her parents do for her. She did something wrong and pushed her on to the parents. “I should really let her go outside. Take exercise and endure hardship."
In addition to exercising children's will to endure hardships, it is also the choice of many parents to exercise their children's ability to resist frustration.
A mother of a child told reporters that she signed up for her 8-year-old daughter to participate in the "Being a Little Businessman" activity, and she was very emotional.
The setup of the event is very simple. The organization prepares small sachets, and the children write blessings on them. A sachet is sold for 5 yuan and sold out in the morning. The money earned is eaten for lunch, and the remaining money is used for donations.
After the event, she asked her daughter how she felt. Her daughter's words surprised her, "She thinks that those adults who buy their sachets don't really like sachets, but because they see them small and want to help them." Afterwards, the mother thought that the organization's activities were too simple. The cost of five to six hundred yuan a day was not cheap. The goods prepared by the organization should be more valuable, so that the child's experience would be more real.
Although some parents complained about activities that were not detailed enough, the reporter found that the agency’s activities were still full.
Some parents said that such activities on the market are not easy to find, and there are actually very few choices.
Security issues are also worrying
The reporter's investigation found that children aged six or seven take part in more one-day trips, while children over eight or nine years old are more willing to try multi-day trips.
"Let the child be ready to fly solo, whether she can comb her hair, whether she can wash her clothes, whether she will organize things, these seemingly small things, if the parents do not explain them, it will increase the difficulty of the child's integration." The sales staff of the children's club told reporters.
In response to the safety concerns of parents, the salesperson said that the ratio of children in their camps to teachers is 6:1, and the teachers will send the children’s status to the group in the form of video at any time, and they will also let the children communicate with them before going to bed at night. Parents talk on the phone.
In fact, parents’ worries are not superfluous.
During a water kayaking tour during May Day, Kobayashi said that he would never participate in such activities again.
After Xiaolin’s activities came back, he told his mother, “When crossing the road, there were a lot of cars. The teacher walked in front and ignored the children behind. There was a 6-year-old boy who was scratched on his arm by a passing bicycle. Carefully wet the pants, and want to ask the teacher to change it. The teacher told him to bear it.” Xiaolin’s mother thought that the activity party should be more comprehensive, “I want to ask the activity party to report the problem afterwards, and hope they can improve, but there is no The person in charge came to ask me to experience my feelings."
It is understood that at the beginning of the registration activity, the activity party usually sends an electronic contract to the parents, asking the parents to confirm and sign.
However, some parents said that the contracts are all standard terms, and parents do not have the opportunity to communicate and negotiate, "You can only choose to participate or not to participate." After the event, few responsible persons will collect user feedback on the experience.
Some experts believe that there are two main focal points for parents not to worry about children traveling alone.
One is the security issue.
In the traditional concept, no matter how old the child is, as long as one travels far away, the parents always worry about safety at home, worry about the irregular industry, and the child's own awareness of rights protection is not enough.
For this concern, it is recommended that parents be sure to recognize the qualifications of the institution's summer camp and the host family before traveling.
The second is various problems that may arise during travel.
From the beginning, children will face detailed problems such as transportation and accommodation, which test their independent living ability and put forward more requirements on the ability of summer camp organizers to control the details.
How to strengthen safety awareness in the process of meeting market demand and pay more attention to the experience feedback of parents and children is a question worthy of institutional and market reflection in the baby's solo flight plan.
Zhou Qian