New observation of summer consumption： the quality of hot products in the market is uneven
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Summer vacation is coming, and it is the peak season of consumption. Parent-child tourism, culture and education lead the consumption boom. While relaxing, people can also broaden their horizons, increase their knowledge and enhance their feelings with their children. What are the new features of parent-child tourism consumption this summer? What are the new trends in education and cultural consumption? How to make tourism services, cultural products, education and training more in line with people’s consumption needs? Recently, the author conducted interviews in some cities.
— — Editor
Parent-child outdoor, theme park, study tour, parent-child summer camp … … In the current tourism market, there are more and more tourism products with the concept of "parent-child", which enriches consumers’ choices. However, some parent-child tourism products also have problems such as uneven quality and unreasonable design. What is the market prospect of parent-child travel? How to improve the quality of parent-child travel products to better meet the needs of consumers? The author conducted an interview.
Parent-child travel is heating up.
Studying and relaxing with children is becoming a new fashion for many parents to travel.
Riding in Erhai Lake, Walking in Cangshan Mountain, Tie-dyeing in Zhoucheng School, Stargazing in Astronomical Manor … … Looking at the photos of a trip to Yunnan a few days ago, Song Huiping, an employee of an enterprise in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, is still unfinished. Her son is in primary school and likes astronomy. He joined the astronomy club at school. During this summer vacation, Song Huiping specially selected parent-child travel products including astronomical projects. "It’s unforgettable to learn knowledge and relax during the trip!" Song Huiping said.
In recent years, the domestic parent-child tourism market is heating up rapidly, and travel agencies have launched a wealth of parent-child tourism products according to their own resource advantages. The arrival of the summer tourist season has set off the upsurge of parent-child tourism.
The "2019 China Summer Tourism Forecast Report" released by china tourism academy and Ctrip Tourism Big Data Joint Lab shows that parent-child travel will show explosive growth in the main force of summer travel this year. According to a survey, in terms of willingness to travel, 96% of the respondents expressed their willingness to participate in parent-child travel; In terms of the number of trips, 65.2% of the respondents indicated that they would take their children for two trips, and 28% of the respondents would arrange three or four trips.
The popularity of parent-child travel market is reflected in the booking data of major travel websites. Up to now, among the travelers who signed up for the summer tour in July on Ctrip platform, the proportion of parent-child orders is as high as 50%. According to Ctrip’s summer air ticket booking data in the last three years, children travelers (0— The proportion of 12-year-old tourists in the total number of summer tourists is increasing year by year, and the order volume of children’s tickets this summer has increased by more than 50% year-on-year. According to the booking data of Mama Travel Network, the growth rate of parent-child travel this summer is expected to be around 30%. From the perspective of market segments, parent-child travel is expected to exceed 40%, with a particularly high proportion of cultural content.
"Reading thousands of books and Traveling on Wan Li Road" is the basic cognition and main appeal of most parents for parent-child travel. With the upgrading of consumption and the improvement of people’s income level, diversified and high-quality parent-child travel products are welcomed by more and more parents. Parent-child travel customers who book local play products such as pick-up and drop-off, stroller rental, gourmet meal coupons, entertainment performances and exhibitions are growing rapidly, and users’ eyes on product quality are constantly improving.
Song Huiping said that at least one parent-child tour will be arranged every summer. In her view, this is also a rare "extracurricular learning opportunity" for her son. She is used to reading books and materials related to the destination with her children before going out, so that the children can know the background of the scenic spots before going out, so that tourism can be upgraded from simple sightseeing to learning knowledge. "Every time I travel, I will record my experiences and experiences with my children in Weibo. I also made many friends during my trip, and we exchanged parenting experiences and travel experiences." Song Huiping said.
Dai Bin, president of china tourism academy, said that China’s parent-child tourism market is moving from spontaneous growth to market cultivation. "About 300 million primary and secondary school students and preschool children, as well as the travel needs of their families behind them, contain huge growth potential and will be an increasingly large market."
Market order to be standardized
Parent-child travel products are varied and uneven in quality, which urgently needs more powerful supervision and regulation.
"Last year, I took my daughter to travel and chose a parent-child product that was much more expensive than ordinary products. The merchants claimed that they could provide more security, but I didn’t expect that the goods were not right at all." He Jun, who works in a state-owned enterprise in Wuhan, Hubei Province, is still very angry when he talks about the experience of taking his children out last year.
He Jun chose the "parent-child" cruise product. After boarding the ship, he discovered that the tourists on board not only had parents with children, but also many accompanying students, couples and the elderly. During the whole journey, there were no other products and services specially designed for children and parents except special beds for children. "Isn’t this kind of parent-child tour just speculating on the concept?"
Searching for "parent-child tour" keywords on some travel websites, there are many kinds of routes and products. However, if you look carefully at the details of the tourist routes, you can find that many of them do not involve parent-child tours, and some are just piles of scenic spots. There are not a few such products.
Yang Yanfeng, director of the Online Tourism Research Center of Beijing Union University, said that there is a strong demand for parent-child travel market at present, and some travel agencies have not carried out product design and service innovation for parent-child groups, but are eager for quick success and instant benefit, and simply package some conventional routes, which is known as "parent-child products". The price of such products is much higher, but it lacks parent-child characteristics and is difficult to satisfy.
From the price point of view, compared with ordinary tourism products, the per capita cost of parent-child travel products is higher. According to statistics, the domestic per capita cost of parent-child tour is about 2,500 yuan, and the outbound per capita cost is about 8,000 yuan, and the price is at least 10% higher than that of ordinary tour. The reason for this difference is that the design standards of parent-child travel products may be higher, such as no red-eye flights, providing pick-up and drop-off service, helping to arrange children’s meals, and providing safety seats.
"It makes sense to be expensive," He Jun said. "If parent-child travel products can really provide higher standards of service, it is understandable that the price is higher, but if it is only based on ‘ Parent-child ’ As a scorpion, it is unacceptable to change the way to collect more money, and the products and services are still the same as before. "
"In today’s booming parent-child travel, products and services are varied and endless, and the quality is uneven. To better meet the needs of tourists and protect the rights and interests of tourists, there is an urgent need for stronger supervision and regulation to promote the market to provide more quality parent-child travel products. " Zhang Senhua, vice president of china tourism association Parent-child Tour and Youth Camp Branch, said.
Some travel agencies have been trying to promote the standardization of parent-child products and services. In June last year, Ctrip launched the first parent-child product standard covering all business lines, covering food, housing and transportation related to tourism. Taking the standard of parent-child room as an example, the parent-child room must use children’s toiletries, children’s bathrobe slippers and cartoon pillows that meet the standards; In terms of supporting services, the hotel needs to provide free children’s breakfast, free crib/free extra bed and other services.
Li Guofeng, who has been working as a tour guide for more than ten years, said that the biggest feature of parent-child travel is its strong interaction, and children can learn more knowledge through interaction with their parents during the trip. In the previous experience of "parent-child group", it is not uncommon for children to play with their own and parents to play with their mobile phones. An important reason is that parent-child products are not interactive enough. "When designing parent-child travel products, we should pay attention to children’s amusement needs, and also pay attention to whether parents are also interested in it and participate together, so as to better increase knowledge and enhance feelings."
Create high-quality products
It is estimated that by 2020, the parent-child cultural tourism market will reach 500 billion yuan, and safety, quality and experience are the three major factors that parents-child tourists should consider first.
"Traveling to the northwest this summer, from Xi ‘an to Lanzhou, all the way is a place of interest, and the itinerary is rich and fun. The design of parent-child travel products is also very careful. There are many interactions and learning links between parents and children, and they have gained a lot during the trip. " Li Yonghong, who works in a hospital in Qingdao, Shandong Province, is a "post-80s" mother who likes traveling and pays attention to quality. Especially when traveling with children, in addition to considering the scenic spots and culture, I also hope that the journey will be comfortable and enjoyable, "absolutely not fooling."
At present, the core customers of parent-child travel market are mainly "post-80s" and "post-90s" parents. With the upgrading of tourism consumption, their demand for tourism products is more diversified and their requirements for tourism quality are higher. In addition to traditional parent-child travel products such as summer vacation, study tour and amusement park, they show more demand for more characteristic tourist routes.
"Safety, quality and experience are the three major factors that parents and children should consider first." Li Qiuyan, manager of brand development department of Donkey Mama Travel Network, said that safety includes not only traffic safety during travel, but also whether products are beneficial to children’s mental health. Quality is the soul of the product, covering the hardware in travel, the rationality of product design and the comprehensive quality and service attitude of accompanying teachers. Good experience comes from details, especially for parent-child customers. A kind reminder and a special meal for children will give extra points to the product experience.
According to the report released by china tourism association Parent-child Travel and Youth Camp Branch, the market scale of parent-child travel in China has exceeded 100 billion yuan in 2018, and it is expected to reach 500 billion yuan by 2020. Such a huge market and the diversified needs of parents require tourism enterprises and scenic spots to create more and more distinctive high-quality tourism products.
"Make chocolate by hand with children, learn the whole process of chocolate production from raw material picking to cleaning and grinding, and observe factory production. Seeing flowers and picking them in the ecological park is very distinctive and children like it very much. " Hao Qingfeng’s family from Shanghai took advantage of the weekend to travel by car to Dayun Town, Jiashan County, Zhejiang Province, and were deeply impressed by the local parent-child travel products.
Dai Bin suggested that in order to adapt to the development trend of parent-child tourism market, relevant departments should formulate their own product standards for parent-child tourism according to local conditions, and enterprises should intensively cultivate and take into account the psychological needs of children of different ages in product design and develop diversified tourism products. Let parent-child tourism integrate with new needs and new formats such as culture, education and summer vacation, so that children and parents can spend a wonderful travel time in a relaxed and happy atmosphere.
Please pay attention to these matters for parent-child travel (further reading)
The choice of destination needs to be cautious.
Parent-child tourism must first determine the tourist destination according to the child’s age and hobbies.
If the child is still unable to walk independently or is not weaned, it is not recommended to take the child on a trip. Although preschool children can keep up with the pace of adults in their diet and daily life, their resistance and adaptability to the environment are poor. Therefore, it is suggested to choose neighboring go on road trip with short journey, comfortable environment and similar climate. Children over the age of 6 already have their own ideas. When choosing a destination, they can communicate with them more and consider their interests and wishes.
The luggage should be fully prepared.
Before departure, learn more about the tourist destination, including weather and traffic conditions, and take your luggage. Children’s articles must be brought, such as coats, windbreakers, loose clothes, sun hats, sunglasses, umbrellas, etc. You can make a list in advance and then "follow the map" to avoid omission.
We should also prepare one or two small toys that children like to appease when they are upset or bored, and then prepare some nutritious snacks that children usually like to eat, which can play a role in supplementing physical strength and regulating emotions at critical moments.
Prepare medicines for emergency.
Be sure to prepare commonly used medicines before going out, such as children’s cold medicines, antidiarrheal medicines, and trauma medicines such as disinfectant alcohol and medical gauze. In addition, you should also bring some anti-mosquito drugs and hemostatic stickers.
If children are prone to carsickness, they can take some carsickness medicine, but the dosage should be small every time. After carsickness, they should stop to drink some water and breathe fresh air. Common allergies include food allergies, pollen allergies, and mosquito bites. You can take some anti-allergic drugs just in case.
If the child has severe vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea, systemic rash and other reactions when traveling, he should be sent to the hospital immediately for treatment.
Eat, drink and be merry in moderation.
It is best not to change children’s daily eating habits when traveling, and try to avoid letting children eat food that is easy to get angry or allergic. Eating should not be too miscellaneous, so as not to cause digestive tract discomfort. The water for children should be boiled before entering, even pure water is recommended to be boiled before drinking.
Eat carefully and have fun in moderation. For the sake of children’s safety, don’t let them leave their sight, the itinerary should be reasonable and the work and rest should be regular.
(People’s Daily reporter Luo Shanshan finishing)