Source: Beijing Business Daily

Author: Guan Zichen, Zhang Yiran

Once once "disappearing" offline tourist stores returned to Volkswagen's vision again.As of April 23, many Chinese travel agencies and OTAs including Zhongxin Tourism, Peaceful World, Ctrip have been newly opened or restored offline stores.The number of stores of travel agencies has returned to about 60%.From the perspective of the location, the super -traffic and the surroundings of the business district have become the first choice for the enterprise.Affected by factors such as changes and high costs at present, while the offline stores quickly recover, the product and sales model are changing.

Nearly 200 stores opened a day

With the surging demand of "May Day" holidays, the offline stores of travel agencies have ushered in the tide of store opening.

"We have opened more than ten stores since April, mainly distributed in the rising sun, Haidian and other areas. We will continue to increase to about 20 before May 1."road.

The same is also busy with Zhang Zhili, President of Heping World Group.In early April, Heping World Group successfully signed a hundred travel agency stores in Beijing."Now we have more than 120 stores in Beijing. Generally speaking, we have recovered about 60%. We will strive to open 140 stores before‘ May 1 ”, and open 200 stores by the end of June." He said.

Not only traditional travel agencies, some offline stores of OTA have also ushered in a significant recovery.Ctrip recently announced that nearly 200 offline stores have opened at the same time.According to CEO of the Ctrip Tourism Channel Division, less than 90 days, Ctrip's stores signed more than 1,300 stores, and about 500 stores have opened. On April 18, nearly 200 stores opened the door to welcome guests.

Talking about why tourist stores concentrate on recovering before the May Day holiday. In the view of Zhao Bing, the person in charge of the Tuniu store, with the gradual opening of the outbound destination, and the normalization of inter -provincial travel and climate recovery, users travel travel.The continuous rise of the heat has also promoted the overall turnover of the store to continue to grow month by month.

Tension also said that the trend of continuous sinking markets in travel agency stores is very obvious."In addition to maintaining the possession of the North, Shang, Guang, Shenzhen First Line, and provincial capital cities, there are a large number of three, fourth, fifth -tier cities and county -level cities with a large amount of travel." Zhang Li said.

It is understood that before 2019, Ctrip Tourism Store has become an important channel for Ctrip to reach the market users.At that time, the number of offline tourist stores under Ctrip had reached 7,000, and 28 provinces (municipalities) were landed. The offline stores contributed 35%-40%to the GMV (total transaction) of the group tour business.Under the contribution of the store, among the new users of Ctrip in 2020, the proportion of customers in the third and below cities accounted for more than 40%."2023 will be a key year for Ctrip's offline stores." Zhang Li talked.

The first choice for the opening of Shang ultra -traffic

The offline store restores to speed up, but the merchants are more cautious in the location.

In the choice of business districts, many travel agency companies have regarded traditional business districts as the focus of stores."At present, our stores are still mainly distributed in communities, high -end office buildings, shopping malls and other areas. Generally speaking, the business district is still mainly because of high natural passenger flow, and our products are more suitable for office workers in business districts."Li Mengran said.

Heping World Group also increased in travel stores around the supermarket and hypermarkets.Zhang Zhili talked about: "Now, there are fewer guests in office buildings. Instead, the commercial supermarket has its own passenger flow. In cooperation with these commercial supermarkets, the cost of opening the store has decreased and the traffic has increased."

Han Jie, chairman of China Youth Travel Travel Technology Development Co., Ltd., said, "In view of the pressure of rent and personnel costs, we are more cautious in restoration of stores.The positioning of the store is mainly based on regional services. Because the brand promotion and exposure of the central area stores are good, the first batch of restored stores will be concentrated in the central area. "

The recovery is gradual. Although the "May Day" holiday has accelerated the steps to recover offline stores, it takes a while to fully recover."The large obstacles encountered in the restoration of the store are relatively high rental rents. In addition, the return of employees also requires a certain period of time." Wu Xiaohui, director of the operation of the Retail Expansion Division of Zhongxin Tourism Group, said.

employee recovery and operating costs are the main problems facing the supply side of the current offline stores."It is still in the early days of the restoration of the outbound tourism market. Some employees who have been transferred before are still watching, resulting in fewer store employees in the store." Han Jie also talked, "In addition, due to the influence of the tourism business chain,The amount and group rate are still in the early stages of recovery. The operating costs of offline stores are high and low in gross profit, which also puts pressure on store operations. "

Strengthen the proportion of non -fissure groups

"After opening the store, it is impossible for the market to change at all. The biggest feeling is that tourists' needs have changed." Some person in charge of travel agencies said.

"At present, the user's travel method is also changing quietly. In the domestic destinations, the number of free travel, custom tour, small bag group, and RV tourism has increased significantly, and the niche destinations are even more sought after.Some targeted improvement of travel agencies and store service personnel to integrate resource products and hope to meet more tourists who need more customized travel needs. "Facing market changes, Zhao Bing and his team are also reaction."At present, we already have a mature store model, and we will copy and promote it across the country in the future." Zhao Bing said.

The needs of tourists have changed, and the sales model of offline stores is also changing.Zhang Li also said: "Focusing on changes in the demand side, we will start from training, selection and other aspects to help store transformation, and strengthen the update of stores in non -follow -up products to adapt to increasingly personalized and customized market demand"

"Like our current markets on the market, there will be more thanksing. The" Tour You Wish "exclusive group tailored by our headquarters for the store will train on the store line, Xiaohongshu and other customer channels.I have paid more attention to online and offline, but currently need to be developed simultaneously online and offline. In addition, there are more low -priced groups. Now we are starting to pay attention to customer service, experience, and product quality. "Zhang Zhili talked.

In the view of Zhong Hui, chairman of Shangyou Huiwen Travel, the challenges facing offline stores also require travel agencies and tourism companies to improve their operating capabilities."First of all, the product power is available. The store must provide enough products for tourists to meet the needs. Based on this, the service level should also be improved to maintain a constant performance output. In addition, the data collection ability and digital level are also important."