In the face of SARS, how do our travel agencies respond?

Three problems and solutions before travel agencies

1. How to overcome the current difficulties, what necessary measures to take to reduce losses, and how to survive?

① Save costs and reduce expenses

"Saving costs and reducing expenses" is a basic strategy adopted by most travel agencies. It is also the simplest, direct and effective measure. They use salary, job rotation, vacation rotation, and layoffs to save costs and reduce water, electricity, phone bills, office supplies, and personnel salary expenses. Some companies simply go out of business.

②Use business advantages to carry out individual services and outdoor sports to increase revenue generation

While controlling costs, we must also find ways to increase revenue. For a long time, the business scope of our travel agencies has been relatively single and narrow. Some services such as room booking, car rental, ticket booking, and conference services that belong to the business scope of travel agencies have been occupied by some Internet companies and information companies. Some travel agencies have used this period to carry out some Piecemeal business, such as helping individual travelers book rooms, tickets, car rentals, etc., in order to supplement their income. "Outdoor sports" launched by some travel agencies in Nanning during the SARS period: water skiing, traversing, orienteering, hiking, diving, grass skiing, river tracing, hiking, flying zip lines, camping, orienteering, rock climbing, canyoning, river tracing, and exploration. hole etc. Tourism activities do not occur in the form of group groups, but provide consultation and guidance to some guests who love outdoor sports through the professional services of travel agencies.

③Adopt the method of exporting human resources to increase employee income

Many industries have been affected by SARS. Some companies have temporarily stopped recruiting workers from other places and are facing the difficulty of lack of labor force. Some companies have Drug and equipment manufacturers related to the "anti-African epidemic" are experiencing shortages of manpower during production peaks. Some travel agencies have taken the initiative to contact these companies to provide them with labor resources. For example, Changzhou International Travel Service contacted a local aerosol company that produces disinfectants to organize Employees go to the company in batches to fill disinfectants and label them, and the labor remuneration plus company subsidies are pretty good.

④Use the market information and other resources at your disposal to overcome difficulties through cooperation with other industries

Travel agencies obtain profits through services and information. Some travel agencies In the long-term operation, it has established a relatively complete marketing network, mastered a large amount of customer information, and has a deep understanding of various market segments such as the elderly market, student market, and white-collar market. Travel agencies can use this information to communicate with newly-entered local markets. Cooperate with corresponding merchants in the market, such as working with health care products companies to develop the elderly market, working with book culture companies to develop the youth market, working with online matchmaking and etiquette companies to develop socializing and wedding services, helping research companies to conduct surveys, and even making some products in the region. As a general agent, we can maximize the role of our sales network. A travel agency in Suzhou cooperates with high-tech agricultural enterprises to sell vegetables online.

⑤Adjust work arrangements in off-peak and peak seasons and reallocate time

Everyone in the industry knows that there is a relative off-season between November and March of the next year, except for New Year’s Day and Spring Festival. Except for a small part of the team, other daily travel agents mainly rely on the peak season income of spring, summer, autumn and the two golden weeks. In the off-season of each year, they mainly do some training, annual vacation, and line work. Travel agencies can make use of this period. Time to conduct systematic training, the training content includes tourism regulations, attraction introduction, tourism marketing, etc.

⑥Policy support and government departments’ rescue actions help overcome difficulties

Tourism is of great significance to stimulating consumption, stimulating domestic demand, expanding employment and improving people’s living standards. , however, the tourism industry is also a very fragile industry, especially my country's travel agency industry, which suffered extremely heavy losses from SARS. If the government does not provide industry support to the travel agency industry, it will be necessary for my country's travel agencies to return to pre-epidemic levels in the short term. A long time. The good news is that the State Council executive meeting on May 7 has stated that policy support will be implemented for industries with a greater impact on civil aviation, tourism, catering, commerce and other industries. Some areas have adopted the reduction or exemption of government fees, postponement of local taxes, short-term subsidized loans and Temporary subsidies for travel agencies.

2. How to take measures to prepare for the recovery of the tourism industry after the epidemic?

① Consolidate the original market: "SARS" forced us to stop our normal operations, but our contact with customers cannot be interrupted. Although it is not convenient to visit at home now, we can call, Communicate with our customers through letters and emails, regularly and irregularly inform customers of the SARS epidemic in the region and even the country, care about their physical condition, understand their work and life, and provide timely information on SARS prevention and control Pass on knowledge to guests, introduce the situation of tourist destinations to guests who have planned to travel but have not made the trip, and prepare for travel after the epidemic. Because "old customers" are one of our most valuable resources.

② Develop tourism products: Some travel agencies take the initiative to contact scenic spots and hotels to understand the reception situation, develop some new routes, new projects, new products, plan some new activities, and actively coordinate with relevant departments to pass Comprehensive analysis and comprehensive assessment of the SARS epidemic, and analysis of which scenic spots and areas are still difficult to restore people's travel confidence after the epidemic. Beijing, Guangdong, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and other places that have been greatly affected by the epidemic are not suitable as Key products are launched. Some scenic spots based on natural landscapes are more attractive than urban destinations. Long-distance and long-distance routes are not as popular as short-term suburban tours. Travel agencies must pay attention to the rules when planning routes.

③ Seize the opportunity for publicity: When will the epidemic be fully controlled? When do travel agencies choose to take action? This enables travel agencies to launch the tourism market in the shortest possible time after the SARS epidemic, without wiping out all tourism in the second half of the year. According to the current situation, SARS will inevitably affect this summer. Even if it is controlled before July, it will be difficult for teachers and students to resume, which is the highlight of the summer. The author believes that travel agencies should launch a publicity campaign after the epidemic is completely controlled. This time should be based on the date when the national health and tourism authorities lift the travel alert.

④ Restore tourism confidence: It is by no means an easy task to restore the vitality of travel agencies and revitalize the tourism industry. Now the entire tourism industry is facing a problem of arousing people’s confidence in tourism. Tourism authorities, industries Associations, tourist attractions, travel agencies, hotels, transportation and other tourism enterprises should unite together, jointly promote, plan some large-scale special activities, and create an atmosphere of "be healthy and travel". Limited publicity funds should be spent wisely. Play the greatest role in awakening people's awareness of travel, arousing people's taste for travel, and through advertising bombardment, "hold back your energy, hold on to your money, and achieve the effect of finally being able to travel and take a breather."

⑤ Adjust corporate strategy: "SARS" disrupted our normal work arrangements. It is necessary for all travel agencies to immediately adjust their business strategies for the second half and reformulate their original plans. , the marketing focus should emphasize "safety", and travel agencies will face a reality. If they still rely on "price wars" to compete after the epidemic, the operating conditions of travel agencies will be worse, and no one will take advantage. At present, there is an urgent need for relevant parties to come forward to establish a price coordination and control mechanism. Travel agencies cannot afford to deal with low prices. Otherwise, domestic tourism will really be completely finished this year.

3. How to deal with business risks in the future?

In the face of SARS, our travel agency industry seems to be at a loss, because China's travel agencies have never encountered such industry-wide losses. The rapid development of China's travel agency industry over the past two decades has brought too many favorable conditions to tourism practitioners, covering up the huge risks that exist in the operation of the travel agency industry and the institutional problems that exist behind the great development of the tourism industry. Therefore, we must regulate it legally and establish an emergency mechanism for tourism enterprises to respond to disasters, disasters, accidents and other major emergencies. It mainly includes the following aspects:

First, the tourism authorities should strengthen legislation to regulate and guide tourism enterprises;

Second, the academic community should speed up the research on the problems that exist in tourism Research on issues related to disasters, disasters, accidents and other major emergencies, and provide consultation and assistance to government departments and tourism enterprises;

Third, tourism enterprises should actively cooperate with insurance companies to develop relevant Travel insurance;

Fourth, travel agencies should establish corresponding emergency mechanisms, including:

a) Travel agencies should formulate plans to deal with various emergencies based on relevant laws and regulations and the actual situation in business operations. procedures for handling emergencies;

b) Establish training for tour guides, planners, supervisors and related personnel to deal with emergencies;

c) Cooperate with insurance companies to take out major insurance Emergency insurance to transfer risks;

d) Establish enterprise reserves for major emergencies;

e) Actively carry out diversified operations: Large companies with larger scale and stronger strength can Get involved in other tourism industries, such as catering, hotels, attraction development, transportation and other fields, and even other industries; smaller travel agencies should not only organize group groups and ground transportation, but also carry out individual travel business such as room reservations, car rentals, ticketing, and conference services. Develop it into an independent business department;

f) Establish a travel agency customer information management system and establish a "one-to-one" online marketing platform through new network technology, which is the most valuable resource for travel agencies ;

“How can we see rainbows without going through wind and rain?” We believe that after experiencing the test of SARS, China’s travel agency industry will definitely think more rationally about the problems in business management and find a way out. Solutions that are in line with China's national conditions and industry characteristics, and establish and improve the tourism emergency guarantee mechanism; we firmly believe that China Travel Agency, which has experienced the test of the market, will seek development amidst setbacks, seriously reflect on our shortcomings in the system, and train a group of Mature tourism professional managers; we firmly believe that the future of China's tourism industry will be better.