summer vacation is over, it’s a good time to calm down and talk about the “research and study fever”
2024-09-13
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xiaoye is a mother of a 6-year-old child. she accidentally saw a netizen on xiaohongshu complaining about the poor teaching of a study tour group in a restaurant. the comment section of this post gathered more complaints about study tours, so she also left a comment, "after reading the comments, i really don't dare to sign my child up for a study tour camp." xiaoye didn't expect that her comment post soon received 485 likes.another comment thread about "museum study tours are a nightmare" received more than 2,700 likes. some parents criticized the organizers for raising prices in disguise, saying, "the tour group has changed its appearance to a study tour, and the original price of 998 can be charged at 2,998." more ordinary tourists encountered study tours in scenic spots, which led to a worse personal experience, and criticized that "study tours are annoying." some people also mentioned that the british museum posted a notice in chinese and english in late july, announcing that several exhibition halls, including the china pavilion, refused to accept interpretation and group visits due to limited space.these complaints and sharing on social networks just show the mess left behind by the "study fever" that was active in various well-known tourist attractions during the past summer vacation.this year is the second year after the end of the covid-19 pandemic. both parents and institutions have felt the "revenge consumption" this summer."housing, cars, meals, these are all very tight resources." su dazheng, founding partner and vp of the camp study abroad agency baby travel world, personally led a group in hulunbuir this summer and felt that the super hot holiday study abroad market has pushed the prices of popular destinations to a particularly high level. this situation will test the organizers of study abroad programs' ability to predict the popularity of a destination and local resource conditions. once the judgment is wrong, either the product experience is poor or the agency itself does not make money."the entire hulunbuir city actually has a very small population. those small towns may only have tens of thousands of people, which is simply unable to support such a large tourist group. we don't go to places like heihe, mohe, and xue village," said su dazheng.last summer, soochow university tried a parent-child camp in hulunbuir, but not only did we encounter high temperatures, but we also found that there were a lack of experiential tourism projects there. with this experience, the itinerary of this year's baby travels around the world project for hulunbuir was changed by 80% compared to last year, avoiding the seemingly more well-known places.located in songjiang district, shanghai, the intercontinental shanghai sheshan hotel (also known as shimao shenkeng hotel) was originally located on a huge abandoned mine pit, and the hotel's architectural landscape fully utilized this landform, and in the past it has always relied on "landmark check-in spots" to attract consumers. this year, this hotel located in the suburbs of shanghai has thought of making the mine pit a study destination, relying on cultural content to attract customers.the hotel management team also observed that the original purpose of taking children out was to relax, such as finding a city to play with sand and stay for a few days. this year, the trend of parent-child travel consumption has taken on a more utilitarian purpose - to "experience life and see the world", and they are more inclined to choose destinations with cultural connotations. according to qunar's big data, as of july 15, the average actual payment price of sanya's booked rooms for the summer vacation has dropped by about 20% compared with the same period last year.from the perspective of institutions, only by clearly distinguishing study tours from ordinary tourism can they gain higher pricing space for this market segment. as the definition of study tours is continuously deepened and clarified, parents' requirements for such activities are also constantly increasing.it has to be said that as the market heats up, the chaos of various study tours - whether it is a sky-high-priced overseas tour or a tour to a prestigious school without admission, becomes a hot topic in the news every summer vacation. parents initially had high educational expectations for study tours, but in the end they went to xiaohongshu to complain. this experience gap will eventually force the study tour market to calm down.“pan-research” is popularaccording to the original plan of baby travel around the world, altay was not a route that would be launched until 2025. with the popularity of the tv series "my altay", altay in xinjiang has become a popular tourist destination this summer. so su dazheng and his colleagues took advantage of the popularity to scout out locations for the parent-child camp, running nearly 3,000 kilometers in a week and visiting all the valuable spots in altay.the process of developing a tourist route by a travel agency is called "travel tour" in the jargon. altay parent-child camp established 5 wechat groups during the registration stage, gathering about 2,000 parents who were interested in the project. baby travels the world broadcasted the entire altay route tour to parents. after the 7-day route tour live broadcast, the product copy was put on the mini program on the eighth day, and the sale started on the ninth day. the single-person fee for 7 days and 6 nights was 7,190 yuan (excluding major transportation), and 480 copies were sold in just 6 minutes.the picture shows the parent-child camp activity of baby travels around the world at kanas lake in altay, xinjiang, where parents and children experienced rafting on the lake together.since the ministry of education and 11 other departments jointly issued the "opinions on promoting study tours for primary and secondary school students" in 2016, public departments such as culture, tourism and education have successively released lists of study tour destinations and demonstration bases, continuously releasing policy dividends, and regarding this type of study tour characterized by "going out" as an innovative form of connection between school education and extracurricular education, thus giving birth to the so-called study tour market. a large number of traditional travel agencies and a number of extracurricular education service institutions after the "double reduction" have entered this new business model of integrating education and tourism.this past summer, cultural tourist attractions, museums or famous universities in many cities across the country have once again become popular scenic spots for various study tour groups.sanxingdui museumsuch institutions will cancel the "monday closing" restriction for the summer vacation, and extend the daily closing time from 5 pm to 8 pm. even so, on any weekday, the number of visitors to the museum is not less than that on weekends. tickets need to be booked online in advance and are often snapped up in seconds. among the individual visitors, you can often see student groups in neat uniforms.in mid-august, at the sanxingdui museum in guanghan, visitors could occasionally encounter students from study tour groups wearing "vests" of different colors.su dazheng feels that since the state issued a supportive document on research and study in 2016, "the company's business has grown very fast in the following two years." in 2019, the industry's growth rate slowed down relatively. in 2021, after the state proposed the "double reduction" goal, it cracked down on extracurricular subject tutoring services, which elevated literacy education to an unprecedented level.new orientala cultural and tourism company was established in october 2023, and the cultural and tourism business, which was once positioned for the elderly, was expanded to cover all age groups. the cultural and tourism company, which incorporates the study tour business, is divided into three major sections: international study tours, domestic study tours, and camp education. at the same time, it continues to establish subsidiaries across the country and allows local areas to make their own products, and is no longer controlled by the headquarters.according to the fourth quarter results released on august 1, the cultural tourism business revenue reached 380 million yuan. new oriental executive president and chief financial officer yang zhihui revealed at an analyst meeting that the cultural tourism business is expected to be profitable by fiscal year 2026."it can be seen that they are quite determined to enter this industry. if they continue to outsource the business as before, it will be difficult to control the quality and their reputation will be hit," an industry insider who declined to be named told yimagazine.study tours can be divided into local tours, domestic city tours and overseas tours by region. su dazheng's experience is that this year, the demand for "single-day tours" products in the local market has shown a trend of slowing down, and parents are more willing to send their children to various solo camps in other places. the demand for overseas tours has not changed much, and the uk is still a popular destination."for the more popular camp activities, we had to register two or three months in advance this year. we signed up in april," said parent zhang ying. "the registration time for overseas travel this year is earlier than in previous years." zhang ying's child just finished a camp activity in finland in august. talking about the study tour that just ended, she felt that "chinese children now have a good level of english and are very confident and dare to speak."the picture shows the outdoor camp activities that zhang ying’s daughter participated in in finland this summer vacation."many people think that three years after the epidemic, children should go abroad to see the world, so the overseas travel market should be relatively good in the next one or two years." su dazheng pointed out that due to the relatively low entry threshold, all kinds of companies hope to get a share of the study tour market, but in the long run, domestic city tours have reached the time to compete in content and quality, "and many battalion commanders have gained experience through falling into one pit after another."there are many entrants, and the industry lacks legal and regulatory constraints, as well as no unified service standards. as a result, the quality of existing products and services in the market is uneven. parents even joke that the content design, teacher qualifications, and tour guide level of study tours are like "opening a blind box" and you can easily step on a landmine.what can we learn from “research”as various players continue to enter the study tour market, the term "study tour" has gradually become an all-encompassing concept. pan-study tour products are regarded as cross-industry products of "education + travel". as long as some educational themes are added to the entertainment attributes, they are named "study tour" in commercial packaging."in the field of study tours, everyone has different backgrounds and different understandings of study tours, so the product entry points and business models are also different." wu jiajie, founder of the study tour service platform moors, has also participated in some industry conferences targeting the study tour industry and found that participants' understanding of the industry varies greatly, "and their respective demands are actually different."there are several different models of "research and study" in the market. one is to connect with public schools. the products and services are highly synchronized with the requirements of the new curriculum standards, which are closer to the research and study needs of schools and education departments. therefore, it is a typical b-end business. the research and study service platform provided by moors to schools belongs to this type of product. it emphasizes the course value of the research and study system to meet the new changes and new requirements of the compulsory education curriculum.the other type is represented by baby travel around the world, which directly engages in c-end customer acquisition business. this type of institution will be further subdivided according to style and theme. some focus on self-built camps, while others focus on taking students to study in other places. there are many on-site experience contents, but the difficulty lies in finding a "quantitative" way to give parents a clear display of learning results.the activities of baby travel around the world follow more task-based and situational design concepts and should be interesting. take the forbidden city as an example. for a regular tour group, the tour leader holds a small flag and walks around the scenic spot to complete the activity. baby travel around the world arranges npc characters in the tour, including assassins, palace maids and ministers. children need to complete the level-breaking game according to the tasks given by the npc characters. in the process, they learn about the forbidden city. they can also obtain "baby coins" by completing the tasks, which can be used to exchange souvenirs or small commodities in the camp.in july, at tiananmen square,baby travels around the world summer camp in beijingthe staff built a human wall to protect the students.the founders of some products prefer to call their products "study tours" rather than "research and study" to distinguish themselves from the current popular trend of general research and study. but whether it is called research and study or study tours, in su dazheng's view, this is an industry that is difficult to expand quickly and mature with capital, and requires solid long-term investment to achieve healthy and stable development.whenever study tours are mentioned, practitioners will mention the chaotic situation in this field, and "quick success and instant benefits" has become a normal practice in those who want to quickly seize the market."this industry is not as easy as you might think. it is a very demanding and meticulous job. you need to have a certain scale and your own characteristics, otherwise it will be difficult to develop." su dazheng said that especially for programs where children go on solo study tours, parents are most concerned about their children's safety. the team leader needs to have rich experience in handling all kinds of tedious details and responding to various emergencies. the training and experience accumulation of the team leader cannot be completed overnight, so if you want to really do it well, this is destined to be a "slow industry" that tests the patience of entrepreneurs.when it comes to educational products for students, the final decision-making power lies in the hands of parents. from the perspective of parents paying for products, safety is the first factor, so they will pay great attention to the institution's safety measures, the ratio of accompanying teachers, and the experience in safety protection. this information is not easy to obtain from the internet, so their choice and trust in institutions often comes from "recommendations from friends.""we will also pay attention to how the institutions can help children develop their social skills in an environment with their peers after they are separated from their parents." parent yu yun told yimagazine that parents who can send their children to institutions to "fly solo" often have a common demand, which is to cultivate their children's independent adaptability to society. "most of us believe that we should let children go out, learn to socialize, learn to observe, measure the world with their feet, feel the world with their hearts, and personally experience things that they cannot experience in school and family environments."baby travels the world has established more than 600 video accounts. each employee operates at least one account, and each branch has three accounts, which are used to edit the content of the large number of study tours every day into short videos for external promotion.since 2023, baby travel around the world has also begun to develop a city exclusive agent model to complete the brand penetration in second- and third-tier cities and customer acquisition for winter and summer camps, but the execution of all winter and summer camps is still completed by the headquarters to ensure the quality of delivery. su dazheng said that it takes 24 to 36 months for the company to train an experienced executive camp commander. in order to reduce costs, small and medium-sized institutions on the market often recruit part-time team leaders or outsource travel. this model definitely has experience risks. in short, in response to the growing market demand, whether it is to b or to c track, only by constantly innovating content and improving the service system can we build a reputation and gain the long-term trust of consumers.
