"The most beautiful April day in the world", now is a good time to enjoy flowers and go green, and the accompanying business is also booming.
What is the difference between travel photography and the real birth of the escort business? In the future, is it expected that escort photography will become a formal profession and usher in standardized development?
The rise of escort photography is a hot market
In April, the flowering period of many places across the country is in full bloom, showing a scene of purple and red and "blooming everywhere".
Taking Jinyang Lake Park in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province as an example, more than one million tulips bloom in the park, like torches and lanterns, and the colors like oil paintings spread out on the earth. Tourists are weaving, everyone has come to take pictures and check in, and feel the gorgeous and beautiful spring scene.
Nowadays, cherry blossom viewing has become one of the most popular tourist routes in spring. Every weekend, the tourist routes in Taiyuan and its surroundings are almost full, which not only meets the needs of different tourists, but also enriches the spring tourism products. While the flower-viewing tour continues to heat up, it also brings the escort into the public eye.
"Recently, the weather has been good, the flowers are blooming well, and there are many 'little sisters' in Jinyang Lake Park on weekends to check in. Gao Xi is a local college student in Taiyuan and a photography enthusiast, he told a reporter from China City Daily that in order to exercise his skills and earn some pocket money, he recently came to Jinyang Lake and other urban parks every weekend to take orders and take pictures. "At the beginning, I only posted advertisements on Moments, and they were all orders placed by classmates or alumni. Later, with my consent, I posted the finished film on Xiaohongshu or Douyin platforms, attracting more people to place orders. I will give customers some dressing suggestions in advance according to the location of the photo, and I will also bring some hats, frangipani and other small props to help them pose, take pictures, and shoot videos. In the later stage, if you need to refine and trim, you will add extra money, generally it is a one-to-one service, and if there are many people, you will add money according to the head. Gosh shared.
Under the guidance of Gao Xi, a reporter from China City Daily opened Xiaohongshu and tried to search with "escort" as the keyword, and found that in addition to Taiyuan, there are various escort photographers in many places across the country. These posts provide a detailed introduction to the basic situation of the escort, including the display of sample films, shooting equipment, charging standards, starting time, appointment methods, and other information. Some escorts also provide other services such as escort tours, introduction of scenic spots, and food recommendations.
A reporter from China City Daily found that the price of accompanying photos ranged from tens of yuan to hundreds of yuan per hour, and if you shoot with Polaroid, you will be charged according to the number of photos.
According to Gao Xi, an escort like him can earn hundreds of yuan a day on weekends recently. "If you are in a first-tier city like Beijing or Shanghai, the income of the escort may be higher. Gosh said.
Cost-effective, personalized service, etc
Become a key word for escorts
In fact, long before the rise of escort photography, travel photography has been popular for many years. Travel photography, as the name suggests, is to take pictures in the process of traveling, which is a product of the rise of young people's enthusiasm for taking pictures and traveling. Later, with the continuous upgrading of consumption, traditional tourism, parent-child photo, outdoor sports and other fields have also begun to add travel photography elements.
So, what is the difference between escort photography and travel photography, which is in the limelight today?
"Travel photography mainly refers to the photographer providing photo services for tourists during the trip, while escort photography focuses more on accompanying and guiding tourists to take pictures, and also provides some photography skills and suggestions. Therefore, from the perspective of service content, there are certain differences between escort photography and travel photography. Lin Xianping, secretary-general of the Cultural and Creative Research Institute of Zhejiang University City College, said in an interview with a reporter from China City Daily that travel photography is limited to helping tourists take pictures, and accompanying photos in addition to providing photo services for tourists, it also has accompanying travel and explaining tourism.
In addition, a reporter from China City Daily also found that in terms of price alone, compared with travel photography of hundreds of thousands of yuan, dozens of yuan to hundreds of yuan are obviously more cost-effective. It is worth noting that some escorts will also deliberately emphasize "strong empathy ability and can provide emotional value".
"I went to Quanzhou this time to make a special appointment with a female escort, not for anything else, just to find a partner. Jiang Jiang, a white-collar worker in Beijing who had just returned from a trip to Quanzhou, Fujian Province, told a reporter from China City Daily that she didn't like to visit attractions alone. The female escort can not only chat with her, but also know what effect she wants.
Yuan Shuai, executive vice president of the Institute for the Promotion of Agriculture, Culture and Tourism Industry, said in an interview with a reporter from China City Daily that contemporary young people pursue personalized travel experiences, and accompanying photos can meet their needs for wanting to leave unique memories during their travels. At the same time, escort services are usually affordable, and escorts provide full accompaniment, so that tourists are no longer alone during their travels. In addition, the popularity of social media has also promoted the development of the escort industry, people are willing to share their travel photos, escorts can provide professional photo and retouching services, to help customers better show themselves on social platforms.
Yuan Shuai further said that the rise of escort photography also reflects that consumers are paying more and more attention to the emotional experience and personalized service in travel, and the traditional photography service can no longer meet the needs of modern tourists, and they want to get a comprehensive and personalized travel experience.
There are hidden dangers in the escort market
Attention should be paid to regulation and supervision
Due to the relatively short period of rise, the escort market and industry are inevitably mixed, and there are certain hidden dangers.
According to Gao Xi, customers are not punctual, no-show, and dissatisfied refunds are more common phenomena in the escort circle. For example, some people transfer 20 yuan as a deposit to the escort in advance, but when the escort arrives at the designated place, they are told by the person who placed the order that they cannot attend the appointment temporarily and ask for a refund of the deposit. Another escort who is familiar with Gao Xi has encountered the situation of "cutting the final payment by hand", that is, there is no objection to the whole process of accompanying the shooting, but when the escort sends all the negatives and retouched photos to the next person, the other party refuses to pay the final payment on the grounds of "dissatisfaction". "In this case, we don't have that much time to talk to each other, and we generally choose to consider ourselves unlucky. Gao Xi said helplessly.
From the perspective of the person who placed the order, there are also various unhappy and uncontrollable situations. For example, an experiencer posted on the Xiaohongshu platform that the escort obviously collected the deposit, but blocked the person who placed the order the day before the payment agreement. Some people sincerely suggest that if you are a female consumer, it is best to confirm that the escort is also a woman before placing an order to avoid being harassed by a male escort. Some experiencers said that there were so-called "escorts" who asked them to go to their homes to put on makeup on the pretext of helping with makeup. Fortunately, the experiencer was vigilant and terminated the contact in time.
How to standardize the development of the escort market?
Yuan Shuai suggested that, on the one hand, a strict review mechanism should be established to review the qualifications and credibility of escorts to ensure that they have professional photography skills and a good service attitude, and on the other hand, strengthen industry self-discipline, formulate industry standards and norms, clarify the rights and obligations of escorts, and restrain their behavior. In addition, supervision and law enforcement should be strengthened to crack down on violations and protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and practitioners.
In 2022, the two professions of homestay housekeeper and research travel instructor, which are closely related to the tourism industry, will appear in the 18 new career information released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, which is undoubtedly good news to stimulate the innovation and development of the tourism industry.
With the advent of the era of mass tourism, the tourism industry has provided employment opportunities for more and more young people, which also makes many young people hope that one day escorts can also become "regular soldiers".
"Although at present, escort has not been included in the formal profession, but with the development of tourism and market demand, the profession of escort will gradually attract attention and recognition. Lin Xianping said that if the escort team can standardize the development, improve the quality of service and reputation, and at the same time the relevant departments can also strengthen supervision and standardize industry standards, then the escort is expected to become a formal profession.
Original title: The escort service is favored, and the market and industry urgently need to be standardized
■Source: China City Daily reporter Zhang Yaxin