The market as a whole is mixed, how can research and study tours be better "hot"?

This summer, parent-child research tourism products are very popular, and orders have increased by 70% year-on-year. However, some operators in the market have incomplete qualifications, the accompanying personnel arranged lack the corresponding qualifications, the quality of research and study tour products is uneven, and some products are questioned for only traveling but not learning or only learning but not traveling. In this regard, experts suggest that enterprises should be guided to transform and upgrade, use new technical means, and strengthen the development and design of research products to meet the needs of diversified, personalized, experiential and high-quality consumers.

This summer, go to Lijiang, Yunnan Province to re-walk the ancient tea horse road and experience Naxi culture; went to Xi'an, Shaanxi Province to participate in the filming of the sitcom, and visited the rise and fall of the ancient capital of the Thirteen Dynasties; Visit famous universities, science and technology museums and museums to immerse yourself in the power of knowledge; Preliminary exploration of military life, rainforest exploration, drone aerial photography camp...... With the advent of summer travel, all kinds of research routes and products are blooming and are online on major tourism platforms.

This summer, children will be allowed to "go out to see the world" to a certain extent instead of cram schools and interest classes, and the research and tourism market will "rise". According to data released by relevant travel platforms, the summer tourism market has maintained steady growth. Among them, parent-child users have become the absolute main force, and research products are very popular, with orders increasing by 70% year-on-year.

The rapidly growing demand is testing the ability of the cultural tourism industry to respond. In the market, the quality of research and study tour products is uneven, and many research tour products are questioned as only traveling without learning or only learning without traveling. How to further optimize services, standardize the market, and meet the public's demand for high-quality research products has become a question worth pondering.

The market demand is strong, and the study tour continues to heat up

Teacher Chen of Hebei Xingyuan Language and Arts Institute told reporters that this year is her 10th year of doing research projects. When I first started, the market was not yet mature, and it was more like a check-in tour with students. Mr. Shao, a research service provider of "Curious Flight" in Zhejiang, also feels the same way: "In the embryonic stage of research, the number of people who accept and participate in it is small, the competitive pressure of various research institutions and travel agencies is less, and the research products are relatively simple. ”

In recent years, under the background of a number of policies in mainland China to support research trips and the "double reduction" of compulsory education, parents' educational concepts have changed. Teacher Chen told reporters: "Now many parents feel that research has become a mandatory option during the holidays. The concept of 'reading 10,000 books, traveling 10,000 miles' is accepted by most parents, and they are more inclined to let their children learn on the road, to society, to practice, and to nature than to be confined to books. ”

The strong demand has promoted the innovation of the supply side, and the research market has shown the diversified characteristics of products, space and business entities. The reporter consulted various online travel platforms and found that the price of research products ranged from two or three hundred yuan to more than 100,000 yuan, in addition to the difference between short-distance and long-distance, it was also reflected in the difference in the number of people and content. With the popularity of the research market, many institutions have launched richer and more diversified research products during the holidays, integrating their own characteristic resources into research courses, and paying more attention to practice, interaction and innovation.

According to the "2023 China Research and Study Tour Economic Market Operation Monitoring Report" released by iiMedia Consulting, it is expected that by 2026, the overall market size of China's research industry will reach 242.2 billion yuan.

The schedule of research trips has become "open the blind box"

Different from traditional travel products, research travel products are mainly in the form of experiential education and research learning, and the content focuses on "research" and "learning".

According to the "Research Travel Service Specification" issued by the former National Tourism Administration and the "Opinions on Promoting Research Travel for Primary and Secondary School Students" jointly issued by the Ministry of Education and the National Development and Reform Commission and other 11 departments, the organizer of the research travel activity should have the business license and operation qualification of the travel agency, and the research travel activity should be equipped with a project leader, and each research travel team should be equipped with at least one safety officer, one research instructor and one tour guide.

However, at present, some operators in the market are not fully qualified, and the accompanying personnel arranged lack the corresponding qualifications. Some research trips have the situation of "traveling but not learning" and the quality and price of research experience do not match. Some research products say that they are Qingbei research groups, but they just make a card outside the school gate; Some study trip schedules have become "blind boxes", and many of the attractions in the study trip brochure have not been reserved.

According to a survey previously released by the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission, the problems of research and study tours are mainly concentrated in the uneven quality of research products and the cutting corners of travel services. The survey found that 48.5% of consumers think that the effect of check-in education in famous schools and museums is not good; 34.3% of consumers think that the effect of only traveling but not learning or only learning is reduced; 49% of consumers reported that there were inflated prices and mismatched goods.

This summer, Ms. Lin, a citizen of Guangzhou, is planning to travel with her baby. Last year, after spending more than 10,000 yuan to apply for a research group to "step on the pit", Ms. Lin decided not to apply for a research group: "I feel that I can't swim well and can't learn." The so-called research tutor is a college student who has just graduated or has not yet graduated, and his explanation of scenic spots is not as good as a professional tour guide. ”

Make up for shortcomings and promote the standardized development of "real research".

"At present, the supply of the research market is still far from keeping up with the growth and changes in demand." Xu Hong, dean of the School of Tourism and Service of Nankai University, said that traditional tourism enterprises are in the process of transformation, and emerging research institutions cannot fully meet the needs of the consumer market, and there is a mismatch between supply and demand, which is the reason for the mixed research market.

Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, previously said that research and study tours are in their infancy, and due to the lack of industry norms, there are problems such as opaque prices in the research market and difficult assessment of lecturers' professional qualifications, and government regulatory departments should pay more attention.

Pay attention to top-level design, and open up the whole industrial chain of research and tourism through the establishment of rules and regulations, so that this "research fever" can continue to ignite. Dai Bin said that the education department and the cultural and tourism department should jointly conduct the necessary review of the research content and research instructors. In 2022, "research travel instructor" has been included in the National Occupational Classification Dictionary as a new profession, but what kind of training travel instructors should receive, what qualities they have, and how to obtain qualifications still need to be further demonstrated and practiced.

At the market level, Xu Hong believes that it is necessary to guide the transformation and upgrading of enterprises, use new technical means, and strengthen the development and design of research products to meet the diversified, personalized, experiential and high-quality consumer needs of research and tourism. "The key is to carry out personalized development of the research needs of people of different ages, and at the same time to integrate resources, the industry must have an open view, a market view and the concept of co-construction and sharing. In this way, we can realize the study of the scholarly spirit and the travel of the family and the country. Xu Hong said.

The Shenzhen Municipal Consumer Council reminds consumers to be vigilant against false propaganda when purchasing research products, and it is recommended to check the operator's ratings and product evaluations before payment, and ask about the qualifications and specific activities of the research teachers, so as to avoid encountering mismatches in quality and price and falling into the trap of "pseudo research tours".