On the afternoon of January 9, 2021, at the "Meet and Foresee" conference hosted by The Parent-Child Cat, Zhang Xiaojun, President of the Homestay Inn and Boutique Hotel Branch of the China Tourism Association and founder of TangRen Cultural Tourism Think Tank, shared the theme of "Study Tour: New Functions, New Tracks and New Thoughts on the Development of Cultural Tourism".
(Zhang Xiaojun made a speech)
The following is a partial transcript of the speech, which has been edited:
Five years ago, the cultural tourism industry was too traditional.
Therefore, when the national cultural and tourism department proposes to insert scientific and technological wings for tourism, many traditional tourists do not understand.
But after 5 years of development, the integration of culture and tourism and technology has been ideal, and this ideal includes a variety of immersive experiences, including various virtual travel, including the digitalization of many tourism enterprises.
But this ideal often becomes a passing cloud in the face of rapidly developing technology.
Because the development of science and technology is really too fast.
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In fact, study tours should include at least 4 aspects. The first is the top-level system setting, the construction of the second regional study tour destination; the third consumer end, that is, consumers, what they want, and how to achieve it. Fourth, the propagation end.
There are at least 4 aspects, how should it be considered?
The only driving force for things to move forward is problem-oriented. We're going to look for existing study trips, so-called pain points that exist in at least 4 areas.
As a father of two elementary school students, I have been taking children with me in recent years, or providing a lot of so-called study trips for my children.
As a parent, I can personally feel that there are still a lot of deficiencies in the production end, that is, the supply side.
For example, the acquisition of information, the current research and consumption information, should be said a lot, but we as consumers, or the so-called C-end, through what channels should we obtain information, and what means to select this information?
No.
I remember a dozen or twenty years ago, there was a very good travel online business called Tuniu.
What is Tuniu's model? He does not produce any of the lines, he does not provide any tourist services. However, through the technology of the Internet, he integrated the tourist routes that already existed in the market and provided them for consumers to choose, which is an innovation of business model, and then greatly reduced the procurement cost of tourism consumers in that year.
There are still many problems on the consumer side. For example, as parents, how can we know that my child can get his harvest according to the content and quality of the services promised or provided by the research institution?
When I was a travel agency 20 years ago, I proposed a business model innovation called traveling first and paying later.
It was not yet a credit society. Many travel agents collect money first and then travel, resulting in consumers being vulnerable. So I asked if we could travel first and pay later. At the end of the trip, I went to pay the travel agency according to the quality of the travel service I enjoyed.
At that time, this matter sounded logical and completely achievable now.
But in that year, it was a fantasy, and it also poked a big honeycomb.
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Then when I went to the travel agency, I thought I should let the consumer know what the service he was enjoying was before he left.
There are pre-departure briefings in the travel industry, but what will be pre-departure briefings?
It is to show the photos, videos, and pictures of the places we are going to show the tourists.
Now with the so-called virtual technology, the pre-departure briefing can be done very realistically, but if you introduce the technology of a more perfect metaverse, is it not just a pre-departure briefing?
As a parent, I am most worried about my children being wronged, hurt and hidden in the process of study.
But many camps are closed to parents.
Parents are relieved, hand over the child to them, pick him up after 7 days, at most there is an online chat in the evening, let us know what the child's evaluation is on this day.
However, if the management of the traditional camp, including the service model of the research institution, can be reopened, using the virtual, the use of the meta-universe, can parents not only supervise and examine in real time, but also participate in the study of their children?
I think that whether it is virtual reality now or the meta-universe of the future, it is very important to supervise the service quality of research institutions.
Of course, it also includes the government's industry regulation of the study destination, and the current supervision is before and after, but the process is missing.
If a guest complains, the tourism department will accept it immediately to deal with the problem.
Before the trip, the tourism department will ask the travel agency or research institution to submit the contract and submit the itinerary.
What about the process? No.
Because technical means can not be achieved.
I think that whether it is virtual or metaverse, process management should be the real purpose of industry supervision, not to make up for it after the fact, not just to control and supervise in advance.
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Therefore, around the study tour, from the supply side to the consumption side, from the industry management end to the industry communication end, the study tour still has too many pain points.
For example, the camp, the current camp is not built enough, let alone virtual space?
But conversely, if the camp can be introduced at the beginning of the planning and design, coupled with listening to the opinions of the residents of the camp community; the opinions of the government managers of the camp; the opinions of the consumers of the camp, that is, the parents and children of the study trip; and the opinions of supporting suppliers, such a camp should be an ideal camp. Of course, this also includes the transmission end.
The study trip is a huge outlet, and when this outlet comes, we can have endless imagination: the metacosm, perhaps a huge vent.
When the two outlets collide, I believe that the study tour can provide a better experience for consumers!
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