How to become a professional tourism manager?

Compared with professional managers in other industries, professional managers in various tourism industries are lucky. After graduating from college, I entered a medium-sized travel agency, working first as a tour guide and then as a planner. Within a few years, I was promoted to manager. Those who are quick-thinking and have customer resources in their hands will have more opportunities to move around in the industry, or become CEOs of their own businesses. Such a prospect is undoubtedly a great temptation for young people who are determined to join the tourism industry. China's current tourism landscape is undergoing profound changes.

1. Successful people have the courage to take the lead

As a professional manager, the first thing is to take the lead. To be in the market is to not be afraid of difficulties, move forward courageously, and always maintain a passion and belief. Successful people are not necessarily the ones with the highest IQ, but they must be the ones with the strongest will and the most tenacity. It is not easy to waver in what you believe in, and you are particularly able to stick to it. To be in the market, you have to dare to think and do it. Successful experience in actual market operations is very important, as it builds people's self-confidence. You cannot wait until you have learned all the theories before doing the market. We should bravely rush into the market and learn in actual combat.

2. The big picture is a kind of vision

When studying market issues, we must be good at "reducing complexity into simplicity" and grasp the key points of the market at once. How can we turn complexity into simplicity? The key is to have a high vision, a broad vision, and a "big picture." What is the “big picture”? The "big picture" is a macroscopic and broad vision. Being a successful tourism manager requires a big picture and a broad vision. So far, the market development of China's tourism industry is not sufficient, the level of marketing is generally low, and the overall situation of travel agencies is still small and weak. There are more than 15,000 travel agencies across the country, with so many good resources and so many excellent tourism managers. Why is it that none of them can complete the industry integration like Tongcheng.com? Why hasn’t a travel service company like Ctrip developed? In the final analysis, it is because everyone is focusing on the team market right under their noses, thinking that it is easy to make money quickly by forming a team, and they have ignored the self-guided travel market that has the most development potential in the future. The result is a bloody price war, with no one making any money.

3. Cultivate subversive thinking

Only by having a subversive thinking in the market can we achieve greater success. Subversive thinking does not seek improvement, but change. It is "creating something out of nothing". It's a complete change. It is essentially a forward-looking strategic thinking that comes from decision-makers' profound insights into future trends in industry changes. If travel agency operators cannot understand this and simply imitate other people's superficial things, it will be difficult to win in the market competition. In fact, it is very difficult to do better on what others have already done. The correct approach should be to try to do things that others don't do, and to do them differently from others. For example, Ctrip’s business model is completely different from traditional travel agencies. Moreover, the self-guided travel market it targets is exactly what traditional travel agencies do not pay attention to. Therefore, once this market is launched, it will be difficult for traditional travel agencies to compete with it. Of course, disruptive thinking is not only reflected in decision-making, but also in the way of operating the market. For example, how to control the market, how to transform from a weak position to a strong one, how to change the rules of the business game, etc.

4. Perceive consumers carefully

With the development of the market today, it is difficult to meet the needs of consumers only with good product quality. To truly do well in the market, we must transcend the material aspects of products and delve into the spiritual aspects of consumers. In fact, many times tourists don’t really know what they need. As a tourism manager, you must be good at understanding human nature and perceive consumers with your heart. It is necessary to carefully analyze consumers' values, lifestyles and cultural psychology, and to delve into consumers' subconscious minds. Real needs are often hidden. To discover hidden needs, we also need to gain insight into tourists’ psychological needs. Marketing studies people's purchasing decision-making process, from awareness to interest, to desire to purchase, and finally to completion of purchasing behavior.

5. Master information and pay attention to balance

In the future, the development direction of tourism marketing management will gradually change from the current improvement of various service functions to the establishment and possession of the best information system. Now, many tourism companies are beginning to digitize their businesses in order to save costs and expand their contact with consumers. Therefore, if tourism managers want to seek their own competitive advantage, they must know how to master information. Too much information can confuse people and make them overwhelmed. This involves how to obtain information.

First of all, massive information requires "massive reading". As a professional manager, it is necessary to persist in continuous learning and maintain sufficient information possession. Frankly speaking, the entry threshold for China's tourism industry is too low and the number of employees is mixed. Compared with professional managers in other industries, Chinese tourism managers are not very fond of learning. One of the important functions of "mass reading" is that it allows us to "perceive the market in chaos." The human brain is born with the ability to perceive, summarize and organize information in chaos. After sorting, valuable information will flow out automatically and orderly.

The formation of business intuition is not only related to experience, but also inseparable from the possession of information.

Secondly, to obtain information, you must learn to "remove the rough and select the essential." To transform market information into information that is helpful for marketing decisions, a process of “removing the dross and selecting the essentials” is required. The Internet is like an unfathomable ocean, and travel managers need to focus on what surfaces. In the ocean of the Internet, it always makes sense for a post to surface and spread quickly "virally". So, how to quickly and easily discover information that is useful to us? The method is very simple, that is, keep an eye on the most influential professional websites and forums in each industry. We can quickly understand the latest theoretical research results and practical operating techniques of the entire industry. On this basis, our vision should be broadened, make some appropriate extensions, and browse some excellent related management and brand websites, such as China Management Communication Network, Global Brand Network, etc.

Finally, we must pay special attention to learning and researching various new knowledge and theories that we are not familiar with. People have a kind of thinking inertia, and they are more attached to the fields that they are familiar with. To be a successful tourism manager, we must bite the bullet and learn and research many things that we are not familiar with. In addition to a thorough study of the theoretical knowledge of this industry and profession, we must also have rich experience, extensive coverage, and millions of Don't become a "lame duck".