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Since the summer vacation, the market for study tours has been very popular. On the one hand, study tours can enrich students' learning and entertainment life during this super-long vacation; on the other hand, for parents who do not have a "super-long" vacation and no one to help, study tours are one of the best ways to arrange for their children who have "nowhere to go".

However, with the entry of various institutions, travel agencies and other related platforms, the study tour market, which has not been strictly regulated and lacks unified standards and norms, has also been in chaos, whether it is a "cursory" photo-taking and check-in, or charging high team fees but only visiting some free cultural museums and universities. So, are study tours all "cutting leeks"? Is study tour worth it? The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) interviewed parents of students, heads of study institutions, heads of summer care institutions, people related to online travel platforms, and tourism industry researchers, trying to analyze the causes of the chaos in the study tour market and discuss how to regulate the study tour market.

According to Qichacha data, there are about 34,900 research and study-related companies in China. Judging from the registration trend, the popularity of research and study began in 2018, and the number of registrations soared by 101.69% to 6,321. In 2019, the growth was still high, with the number of registrations exceeding 10,000 for the first time, reaching 12,600, a year-on-year increase of 99.29%. The number of registrations fell successively from 2020 to 2022. In 2023, 2,974 related companies were registered throughout the year, a year-on-year increase of 76.81%. In the first seven months of this year, 1,722 companies have been registered, which is basically the same as the same period last year.

From a regional perspective, Hunan Province currently has 5,052 research-related enterprises, ranking first in the country. Guangdong Province and Shandong Province currently have 3,789 and 3,437 enterprises respectively, ranking second and third, followed by Jiangsu Province, Anhui Province, Henan Province, etc.

What is it that attracts so many organizations to offer study tours? Are the prices of study tours really ridiculously high? And how much profit do they make?

"A monthly income of 10,000 yuan is not enough for 7 days of study"

There are more and more "research and study" projects, and there are also more and more doubts.

One netizen said: "I took my children to Guilin for the summer vacation last year, and I saw a group of children studying outside the Banyan Tree Scenic Area. They took a photo with the landmark stone and left without even entering the scenic area."

Another netizen who claimed to be a "former research practitioner" said: "I can say responsibly that the vast majority of institutions in the market have never stepped on the line, nor do they have their own lines. They just copy (move) the lines connected to the ground, without any ideas of their own, and they are everywhere."

On the complaint platform, some users have also filed complaints and requested refunds for study and research products that were not what was described.

On August 22, a user filed a complaint on the complaint platform, saying that the study tour he signed up for in July at a cost of 14,698 yuan had ended, but "the high-quality study content had become very rough, the hotel we stayed in was far from what was promised at the time, bugs and other creatures appeared in the room, and the sanitary conditions were worrying..." The user said that after returning, he asked the feedback staff to refund the study fee of 2,000 yuan as compensation, "After I asked for compensation, I ignored it. Now I am complaining about the hotel, the study course, and the lack of a contract and invoice. I hope you will accept my complaint. Thank you."

The Paper noted that the complaint has been approved by the platform, but has not been successfully matched with the merchant so far, and there has been no progress in the complaint.

There is more discussion about the prices of study tours.

On social media platforms, complaints such as "A monthly income of RMB 10,000 is not enough for 7 days of study tour", "Study tour has become a 'passing visit'", and "It is two or three times more expensive than ordinary tour groups" have frequently become hot searches.

A search by The Paper found that many domestic one-day study tours cost more than 700 yuan, while outbound tour products cost more than five figures.

Some current students posted the price list of the summer camps organized by their school, which showed that the price of 3-day and 2-night activities is less than 2,000 yuan per person; the price of products with more than 4 nights ranges from 3,580 yuan per person to 5,680 yuan per person; the price of the 6-day and 5-night Singapore summer camp is 13,980 yuan per person.

Why are study tours so expensive? How are the prices of study tours determined?

Teacher Xu, who is in charge of frequently organizing visits and study tours to universities, said that he has been organizing free weekend visits and study tours to universities in his after-school institution since the second half of last year. He organizes these activities once or twice a month, with about 20 children attending each time. The activities are free, and parents only need to share the cost of the bus and lunch, which is about 60 to 70 yuan per person.

In Teacher Xu's opinion, the cost of a one-day research camp in a university is not high: "In addition to transportation and lunch, the main cost is the cost of the teachers in the university who are responsible for receiving the students. The teachers will explain according to the contents of the research manual. For example, at Tongji University, where we just went, the second-year graduate students acted as little teachers to introduce the history of Tongji to the children and what departments and majors are currently set up. At noon, she took us to experience the university cafeteria. In the afternoon, we had classes in a classroom in a teaching building. Tongji's characteristic is architecture, so we popularized knowledge about this architecture - mechanical principles, what kind of technology it belongs to. If you go to the University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, you will learn about traditional Chinese medicine and first aid knowledge; East China University of Political Science and Law will hold a mock court."

Teacher Xu has also organized paid camps, such as a one-day camp at the Shanghai Planetarium that costs 399 yuan.

"To be honest, I only organized a few one-day camps at the Shanghai Planetarium and made a little profit. The cooperative organization shared the profit with me based on the number of people. This is very worry-free. I don't have to worry about anything when organizing the students. Later, I would like to discuss organizing a free camp for old students in summer and evening care." Teacher Xu said frankly, "Now many institutions are conducting research and study, which is to expand the needs of parents. I am more inclined to do research and study for public welfare, and I look for activities close to our organization to attract customers for my evening care."

As for cross-provincial and municipal research and study, Teacher Xu also has his own ideas. "Many research and study activities in China cost 8,000 to 9,000 yuan per person, which does not include major transportation. The profit here is considerable. Usually two children share a standard room, and the cost of some attractions is very low, or even free." However, Teacher Xu also believes that research and study is not a project that can make money without losses. "One is safety. The children taken out cannot get into trouble. Although insurance is purchased, children are too important to every family. The other is early exploration, and all links must be connected. The organization I cooperated with designed a route to the Northeast last year, excluding major transportation, and cost 7,900 yuan per person. In the end, the income was almost equal to the cost, and there was no profit."

How high is the profit of research and study institutions?

But more research and study institutions seem to be "profitable".

The head of an institution that has been engaged in study tours in Nanjing for five or six years said, "The annual turnover is stable at tens of millions, and the profit is 20% to 30%", and the institution, including the head, "has only about 10 people."

Many people in the tourism industry told The Paper that the so-called "study tour" products on regular tourism platforms are not much more expensive than normal group tour products.

"The prices are actually similar, but the itinerary designs are slightly different. Regular group tours mainly cater to the travel needs of adults, while study tours have fewer attractions and focus on study tours and children's experience." said a person from an online travel platform.

"It's hard to achieve this gross profit margin (20% to 30% profit) for normal itineraries," an insider of a large travel agency told The Paper. "Domestic travel is too competitive." The insider said that the profit margin of his agency's study tour products is similar to that of ordinary domestic tour products. "Study tours are currently too market-oriented. The more formal the tour, the less likely they are to charge random prices."

Zhou Huijie, an analyst at Ctrip Research Institute, said in an interview with The Paper that parents are the main buyers of knowledge-based travel products such as study tours, usually from families with an annual income of more than 300,000 yuan, and their average monthly expenditure on education exceeds 2,000 yuan. "Most of these parents born in the 1980s and 1990s have a bachelor's degree or higher. Not only do they arrange at least 1-2 family trips every year, they also have higher aspirations for the breadth and depth of their children's education," Zhou Huijie pointed out.

Many institutions have taken advantage of the loophole that parents are willing to spend a fortune on for the "good" of their children.

Hu Xin, head of Ctrip's theme tour study tour, believes that knowledge travel, as a combination of education and travel, needs to be comprehensively considered from the two dimensions of education and tourism. From an educational perspective, if the learning content is rich and the teaching staff is strong, the price will naturally be higher than ordinary products. From a tourism perspective, if the itinerary includes scarce resources, the price will also increase accordingly. When choosing products, parents should choose professional platforms or research institutions with good reputations. At the same time, you can make a preliminary judgment on the rationality of the price based on the design and arrangement of the product to avoid becoming a "sucker".

However, The Paper learned from multiple online travel platforms that the average price of study tours this year has dropped significantly year-on-year.

Data obtained by The Paper from Ctrip shows that this summer, the number of orders for study tour products increased by 168% year-on-year, and the average order price decreased by 58% year-on-year. Data previously disclosed by Qunar also shows that bookings for study tour products began to increase in mid-May. As of June, bookings for study tour products increased by about 40% compared with the same period last year, and prices decreased slightly.

Zhou Huijie pointed out that the decline in domestic study tour prices indicates that the market is returning to rationality.

"With the standardization of the industry and the improvement of parents' ability to discern study tour products, those 'expensive study tours' that do not match the quality and price will gradually lose the market." Zhou Huijie analyzed, "The overseas study tour market has potential. According to the latest statistics from market research institution Zhiyanzhan, the market size of China's study tour industry is expected to reach 12 billion yuan in 2024, a year-on-year growth rate of 30.89%. Among them, the overseas study tour market accounts for as much as 48.39%, reflecting parents' strong desire for their children to 'go abroad and see the world.'"

Some places have released a "white list" of research and study hosting institutions

It can be seen that the current chaos in the study tour market stems from the lack of unified professional standards and industry supervision.

Cheng Chaogong, chief researcher of Tongcheng Research Institute, said in an interview with The Paper that study tour products have high requirements for the teaching staff of the development institutions. The reception business of study tour groups must generally be undertaken by travel agencies with relevant qualifications. The pricing of products is determined by product content, itinerary and other components. The healthy development of the study tour market requires policy guidance, establishing a standard system and access mechanism for the development of the industry, and promoting the standardized development of the study tour market.

In fact, some places have made efforts to supervise study tours.

In January this year, the Guangzhou Municipal Education Bureau and the Guangzhou Municipal Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism Bureau jointly issued the "Notice of the Guangzhou Municipal Education Bureau and the Guangzhou Municipal Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism Bureau on the Selection of the First Batch of Research and Practice Organizing Institutions for Primary and Secondary School Students in Guangzhou" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"). After self-application by relevant institutions, organization of experts for review and public announcement, 29 units were recommended as the first batch of research and practice organizing institutions for primary and secondary school students in Guangzhou. The validity period of the first batch of research and study organizing institutions is 3 years, and they will be dynamically managed. For those who violate relevant regulations and requirements, the relevant qualifications will be revoked.

In other words, there is a "white list" of "reliable" study tour organizers. An insider of a travel agency in Guangzhou told The Paper that after the introduction of the white list system, the chaos in Guangzhou's study tours has "improved somewhat."

On July 26 this year, the Guangzhou Municipal Education Bureau issued the "Summer Study and Practice, How to Open Your Eyes to Choose Institutions and Products? The Guangzhou Municipal Education Bureau Issued an Initiative" (hereinafter referred to as the "Initiative"), and the annex announced the list of Guangzhou's primary and secondary school students' study and practice education base camps and eight special theme routes for off-campus comprehensive practical activities. According to the "Initiative", Guangzhou has 11 national-level study and practice education bases, 29 provincial-level study and practice education base camps, and 115 municipal-level study and practice education base camps; and has developed 35 study and practice course resources, and released 300 eight special theme routes of practical education with Guangzhou's local characteristics.

The "Initiative" recommends that parents and friends compare prices from multiple perspectives in terms of itineraries, study content, charging standards, safety guarantees, etc. It is not recommended to let children participate in study tours organized in the name of outdoor expansion at "wild internet celebrity attractions" to ensure travel safety.

Cheng Chaogong analyzed that study tours or training tours are integrated products of tourism and education. Among them, study tours mainly for students are relatively more focused on education. Study tours are not mature enough at present, the market size is relatively small, and the industry lacks the enthusiasm to formulate relevant industry standards. With the increasing maturity of the study tour market, especially at the moment when the social acceptance of study tours is rapidly increasing, all sectors of society will gradually reach a consensus on the formulation of relevant industry standards, and the standardized development of the industry will also usher in a new stage.