Summer trip "suspended" how companies respond to
this newspaper reporter Zhang Xue and intern Liang Shuo
One month before the summer vacation, Tian Song, a graduate student of China University of Petroleum, began planning a trip to Chengdu with his friends.
"However, as the new crown pneumonia epidemic has repeated itself in many places, our plan has'fell.'" Tian Song said, although it is a bit regretful, canceling the trip at the moment is responsible for his own health and the health of others.
The summer vacation was originally a peak season for tourists, but due to the recent outbreaks of epidemics in many parts of the country, the tourism industry has been affected again.
However, the industry generally believes that after the epidemic prevention and control situation improves, based on the strong domestic tourism consumption demand and the efforts of tourism companies to seek self-transformation and upgrading, it is only a matter of time before the tourism market recovers.
Respond in time
Lin Zihao, from Linyi, Shandong, is currently studying in Qingdao. He originally planned to travel to Beijing in the summer but was forced to cancel his trip due to the epidemic.
"I purchased a ticket on an online travel platform. In addition to cash, I also used a voucher. After knowing the cancellation information, I logged in to the platform and applied for a refund. The refund was very timely. After contacting the platform, the customer service also returned the voucher. "Lin Zihao said.
Affected by the epidemic, tourists who have already booked air tickets, train tickets, hotels and other tourism products have a large demand for cancellation.
In response, civil aviation, railway, transportation and other departments have successively issued free refund measures.
Major online travel platforms have also opened channels for self-service cancellation of air tickets and train tickets in accordance with relevant regulations.
"Ctrip has been paying close attention to the development of epidemic prevention and control. With the increase in medium and high-risk areas, Ctrip has once again upgraded its major travel protection plan, and extended the guarantee period for hotel and travel businesses to provide users with more peace of mind and more convenient services." Sun Jie, CEO of Ctrip Group Say.
The reporter noticed that many online travel platforms have introduced emergency return and reform measures for hotels, scenic spots, car rentals and other products.
For example, for a hotel that stays within a certain date in a high-risk area, tourists can apply for free cancellation; tourists who currently live in a medium-high-risk area and cannot go to other cities can also apply for free cancellation.
Some platforms also stated that for tourists from medium-to-high-risk areas, or destination cities in medium- and high-risk areas, ticket orders can be refunded and changed for free with relevant certificates. Other holiday products can be refunded and changed for free according to the merchant’s policy. The platform shall be responsible for the loss.
Lin Zihao said that after the cancellation of his trip, he thought of going through the unsubscribe procedure to avoid losses. He felt that the current response of relevant departments and platforms was relatively timely, which made consumers feel at ease and convenient.
Strict management
Strictly preventing the spread of the epidemic through tourism activities is an important part of the epidemic prevention and control work.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the "Emergency Notice on Comprehensively Strengthening the Current Epidemic Prevention and Control Work", and held a video and telephone conference to further deploy the epidemic prevention and control work in the cultural and tourism industries, requiring strict, meticulous and pragmatic measures to prevent and control the epidemic. Control work.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism requires that, in conjunction with the management measures for the prevention and control of high-risk areas, adjust the management policies for cross-provincial tourism activities and implement joint management.
Inter-provincial tourism operation activities shall be suspended for provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) with medium-high-risk areas, and inter-provincial tourism operation activities shall be resumed after the provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) have no medium-high-risk areas.
Tourist attractions, performing arts venues, etc. have always been important gathering places for people and a key link in epidemic prevention and control.
In this regard, tourist attractions in various regions have adjusted their prevention and control measures in a scientific and dynamic manner in accordance with local epidemic prevention and control risks and emergency response requirements.
As of August 4, 1152 A-level tourist attractions in 20 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country have been suspended as required.
In order to strengthen the flow control of scenic spots, all localities strictly implement the requirements of “limitation, appointment, and peak shifting”.
As of August 5, more than 90% of 5A-level tourist attractions across the country have basically realized time-sharing appointments.
Strictly speaking, various scenic spots are strictly implementing various prevention and control measures.
Xie Mingchun, who lives in Shiliuzhuang, Fengtai District, Beijing, plans to take his son to visit the Palace Museum. He opened the ticket reservation system and found that the number of daily receptions at the Palace Museum had been reduced to 60% of the regular reception.
"Compared with the scene where the tickets for the Forbidden City are hard to find in the past, it is very easy to make an appointment now. However, the status of Beijing Health Care must be confirmed during the booking process."
It is understood that, in order to ensure the safety of tourists and provide them with faster and more convenient services, the Forbidden City has completed the docking with the Beijing Healthbao system. After obtaining the authorization of the audience, the health status can be verified during the ticket purchase process.
Li Dawei from Xi'an, Shaanxi is very satisfied with the experience of visiting the Shanhaiguan scenic spot in Qinhuangdao, Hebei.
“The passenger flow in the scenic spot is not large. Every tourist needs to take a temperature measurement and show the health code and itinerary code before entering the scenic spot.” She said, the staff will remind visitors to wear masks, and the scenic spot will broadcast the epidemic prevention knowledge through the broadcast loop.
Optimistic expectations
Liu Liang runs a homestay in Miyun District, Beijing.
"In the past July and August, many local tourists would choose long-distance travel. Since last week, due to the impact of the epidemic, many local tourists have cancelled their long-distance travel plans and chose to travel to surrounding villages instead. However, with the management of the epidemic prevention and control Upgrade, the village where our homestay is located no longer allows people outside the village to enter at will." Liu Liang said.
For many market players, this summer tourist season has to end at the beginning.
However, they are still optimistic about the overall expectations of the tourism market.
"As long as the epidemic prevention and control situation is stable, the tourism market will be back on track. Under the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, consumers have been psychologically prepared for repeated local epidemics, and there has been no general panic. Consumer confidence and demand have always been Yes." said Cheng Chaogong, the chief researcher of Tongcheng Research Institute.
"Previously announced domestic tourism data in the first half of the year showed that the total number of domestic tourism visits and tourism revenue achieved year-on-year growth of 100.8% and 157.9%, which shows that the potential for domestic demand is the source of confidence for the recovery and sustainable development of the tourism industry." Vice President of Fliggy Travel Huang Yuzhou said that the National Day holiday in the second half of the year, "Double 11" and other time nodes are very important to the tourism industry. After the epidemic prevention and control situation is stabilized, market vitality is expected to be driven by the booming travel demand, abundant product supply and digital power. Continue to recover.
Under the epidemic, although some tourism companies have experienced business problems, some companies quickly stabilized their positions and achieved good results in new business strategies and business models.
In Cheng Chaogong's view, to a certain extent, the epidemic has become a "touchstone" for testing the health of enterprises and the quality of development of the entire industry.
"The crisis of the epidemic can be seen as an opportunity for enterprises to'practice their internal strength', which can allow enterprises to see their own problems more clearly. Over-reliance on a single business or market will inevitably lead to lower risk resistance capabilities. The recovery period of the industry after the epidemic is a period of time. A rare'window' for adjusting the business structure."
"For tourism companies, it is very important to establish sustainable operation capabilities to resist risks." Huang Yuzhou said. On the one hand, tourism companies need to improve their digital capabilities, acquire users, operate users, and convert users more efficiently, so as to better satisfy Consumer needs; on the other hand, organizing one's own operational positions, depositing one's own brand equity through digital means, continuously innovating products and ensuring service experience is the best choice for coexistence with uncertainty.
Our reporter Zhang Xue, intern Liang Shuo
Our reporter Zhang Xue, intern Liang Shuo