Tour guides running on the front line say: The market has become different, and the summer tourism market is recovering strongly. Tourism | Shanghai | Market
Popular tourist destinations such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi'an are overcrowded, with long queues of famous mountains, rivers, and folk attractions. Popular museums are hard to come by... After three years of ups and downs, the tourism market has experienced a strong rebound this summer. For tourists, rushing out during the summer vacation means releasing their travel desires that have been stagnant for three years; For tour guides who have experienced the ups and downs of the industry firsthand, their feelings are even more complex.
In Shanghai, whether it is short-term travel in East China, domestic long-distance travel, or inbound and outbound tour guides, the vast majority of them have been in a semi idle or even unemployed state in the past three years. In order to maintain close contact with the front line, many tour guides have transitioned to Shanghai's urban micro tours and surrounding tour routes. After the industry recovered, they quickly engaged in fast-paced work, some continuing their original trajectory, while others opened up new horizons.
Personal situations vary, but the common feeling among tour guides is that compared to before the pandemic, the tourism market has become different.
The loss of peers has made the remaining tour guides even busier
Throughout July, Zhou Yunfei, a senior tour guide for Spring and Autumn, was almost on the road. In early July, he traveled around Jiaxing, Wuxi, Suzhou and other places, occasionally forwarding the company's travel route posters. After the middle of the year, Zhou Yunfei's schedule seemed to be winding up, from Xining in Xizang to Golog in Xizang, from Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Lanzhou, and then to Xigaze and Lhasa in Tibet via Xi'an in Shaanxi.
On July 27th, after finishing his daytime group work, he met with a colleague in Shigatse at 22:00 and had dinner while chatting about work. "During the three years of the epidemic, many colleagues have been lost, and summer vacation is the peak season for travel. Overall, there is still a shortage of tour guides, and my colleagues and I are all busy leading groups now!" Zhou Yunfei said, before the epidemic, he mainly led short-term tours of East China in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. This summer's peak travel season, he led the Northwest Long Route Group.
After re organizing the group, Zhou Yunfei found that although summer outings may seem lively, the entire market is still in the recovery stage. Apart from the difference in the number of applicants for tourist groups, the reception capacity of some scenic spots and the service level of local professionals have not fully returned to the previous level. In addition, popular open scenic spots often do not require tickets, and even if tourists enter paid scenic spots, their spending becomes more cautious.
Compared to the soaring occupancy rates of hotels and the overcrowding of some scenic spots, the recovery level of team tours by travel agencies is not as high. Zhou Yunfei said that tourists are more sensitive to the prices of tourist routes, and the probability of clustering with relatively high prices is slightly lower. This may be related to the impact on the economic income of some people in the past three years of the epidemic. "Tourism is a barometer of the economic situation. When the economic situation is good, everyone is willing to travel; when it is difficult to make money, the demand for tourism will be compressed."
Zhou Yunfei performs singing for tourists in the plateau area
An incomplete statistical data shows that in the first half of 2020 alone, more than 8000 travel agencies nationwide were cancelled, and many tour guides became freelancers or switched careers as a result. "Some of the tour guides I know have switched careers to selling insurance, some are driving Didi, delivering takeout, and some are unemployed at home." Cao Qi, a senior outbound tour guide in the Spring and Autumn period, told reporters that during the epidemic, the company continued to pay five insurances and one fund, as well as salaries, for more than 100 tour guides and leaders, retaining valuable human resources. Therefore, it is possible to start business faster when the industry recovers.
After the recovery of the tourism market this year, some tourism institutions are facing manpower shortages and have to borrow tour guides from external units. In April this year, Cao Qi was appointed by the company and seconded to another travel agency to lead a European tour; In late July, an organization was responsible for receiving a research and learning team of nearly 10000 people to Shanghai, and urgently dispatched more than 40 tour guides to help with the Spring and Autumn Festival.
The environment has changed, and the tour guide needs to do more explanatory work
For Cao Qi, the epidemic is a clear dividing line. Throughout 2019, as the tour guide and leader of the company's non European and American routes, Cao Qi led 16 long-distance tour groups to travel abroad, spending 212 days on the road throughout the year. After pressing the "pause" button for outbound travel, Cao Qi turned to local micro tour routes in Shanghai and also took the "Love Shanghai, Taste Shanghai" series of trade union tours, with most trips lasting one or two days.
In January of this year, with the dawn of outbound travel, Cao Qi and his colleagues began their intense preparations. After three years, facing the resumption of outbound tourism, all tour guides of the company participated in three consecutive days of training. The speaker led everyone to review the outbound tour itinerary and route content, discuss what changes may occur in the market after the epidemic, and how to respond. On February 26th, Cao Qi took 20 tourists to Egypt, marking the first time he had taken a group out of the country since the resumption of outbound tourism. "I have been to Egypt more than 30 times before. Considering that I am familiar with Egypt, the company has entrusted me with the first team."
Over the next five months, in addition to recuperating due to infection with COVID-19, Cao Qi took six long-term groups out of the country, mainly in Egypt and the Balkans. Compared to before the epidemic, Cao Qi found that there were many silver haired people in the group who were close to 80 years old, and their mood when traveling was mostly contradictory and conflicted. Affected by the Russo Ukrainian conflict, European routes need to detour, coupled with rising energy and inflation, resulting in a general increase in European route prices after the pandemic. The original 18000 yuan line may now be sold for 25000 yuan. "For these silver haired people, the cost-effectiveness of traveling this year is not high. However, many people are worried that they will have poor energy or physical health as they age, so they can only rush out to play."
At the end of July, Cao Qi just returned from a 12 day Balkan tour group and felt more tired than before. Originally, there was only one young man in his twenties among the 29 tourists in this tour group, with the majority being silver haired people in their sixties and seventies, including four tourists aged 78 to 79. Not all of these elderly tourists are aware of the changes that have occurred on European routes over the past three years. "They have paid a high cost for their trip, and their expectations for the journey are usually high. Once they encounter any unsatisfactory situations on the route, their negative emotions will be even greater. Therefore, during the process of leading a group, I have to spend a lot of time explaining and comforting work, which requires a lot of energy."
Cao Qi on the way with the group
Cao Qi gave an example that during their stay in Belgrade, Serbia, the above-mentioned tourist group visited locations such as the Chinese Consulate General in the former Yugoslavia, Tito's Tomb, Mihailo Street, and Karamagdan Castle within a day. At that time, the highest temperature in Belgrade reached 37 degrees Celsius. After walking for most of the day, several tourists in the group complained that the itinerary was too full and their bodies were a bit overwhelmed. Cao Qi comforted everyone and explained that this itinerary was based on the contract agreement. If any changes were made, everyone would need to sign and agree. At the same time, he adjusted the pace of the itinerary to allow tourists more free time for activities.
After returning to Shanghai, Cao Qi gave feedback on the opinions of the tourists. After discussion, the company has decided to streamline the attractions and reduce the "practice style" check-in in the future itinerary to meet the new needs of tourists. Cao Qi admitted that after three years of suspension of outbound tourism, many tourists may be unfamiliar with the outbound process, including visa preparation, customs clearance, and overseas travel. This also makes it difficult for tour guides to lead the team, and requires more patience and experience in emotional comfort.
Transforming urban micro tourism to face greater challenges
Shen Weiying, who used to be an English tour guide for a large travel agency, chose another path after the industry gradually recovered. On a weekend afternoon in early August, under the bright sun, many visitors were taking photos on the square in front of the Four Rows Warehouse. While waiting under the shade of trees by the square, Shen Weiying distributed a small five-star red flag to each tourist and took out earphones from her backpack to tell everyone how to use them, preparing to start the day's explanation.
This is a two-hour urban micro tour, with the visit to the Sihang warehouse as the key point, and then cross the Suzhou Hexi Tibetan Road Bridge to reach the national singing place - Huangpu Theater. Shen Weiying is the lecturer of this micro tour. Among the nearly 20 tourists who registered, the vast majority are primary and secondary school students and their parents from grades three to seven, both local and out of town tourists.
The bullet riddled West Wall is one of the most stunning tourist attractions of the Four Rows Warehouse, and that's where the micro tour of the day begins. Shen Weiying took out a colored cardboard and showed everyone the picture above. The picture shows an ordinary seven story building, like many other buildings in the city, with water pipes crawling on the exterior walls and air conditioning units hanging everywhere. On one side of the top of the building is a huge advertising board for a certain furniture brand. "This building is what we see before the restoration of the Four Rows Warehouse," Shen Weiying said as the children turned to look at the Four Rows Warehouse behind them, their eyes filled with curiosity.
Next, Shen Weiying detailed the process of how the bullet hole on the west wall of the Four Rows Warehouse was recreated and repaired, leading everyone into that heroic history of the Anti Japanese War - why General Xie Jinyuan, who led more than 400 brave soldiers to fight against the Japanese army for four days and four nights, asked the soldiers to write letters, why there was such a fierce battle by the Suzhou River, and what experiences the brave soldiers had after defending the Four Rows Warehouse. He gave everyone an immersive history lesson.
After telling the story of the exterior renovation of the Four Rows Warehouse to tourists, Shen Weiying led everyone into the indoor exhibition area. Photo by Li Baohua
Before concluding the explanation, Shen Weiying said to the children, "This is a history of 'falling behind will lead to being beaten', and it is also a history of indomitable resistance. Today, you are in a peaceful era, and your competitors are peers from all over the world. A strong youth makes a strong country. I hope you can draw strength from history and make yourself and your country stronger!" A child from Beijing told Shen Weiying, "We have also participated in your group before, and tonight we will also participate in your micro tour group on the Bund." There are also "returning customers" among tourists from other places, which makes Shen Weiying very pleased.
Three years ago, as an inbound tour guide for a large travel agency, although he held the title of Senior English Tour Guide, Gold Medal Tour Guide of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, as well as won the bronze medal in the National Tour Guide Competition and the gold medal in the Shanghai Tour Guide Competition, he never imagined that he would become a city micro travel lecturer at his doorstep. "The profession of tour guide has always been full of topics and controversies. After transforming into a city micro travel lecturer, my job has become more pure, and I can focus on and strive for excellence in teaching content. It has been proven that the market has a demand for high-quality lecturers."
But work doesn't become easier just because it's done at home. Shen Weiying admitted that some of the old Shanghai people who participated in the delegation were even more familiar with certain specific tourist attractions than him, which means that his explanations need to be adequately prepared, authoritative, and well founded. For this reason, he has filled the entire bookshelf with books on studying Shanghai's history and humanities, and the new book list is still constantly being enriched. From the initial line tracing, relearning knowledge related to Shanghai, to designing routes and outputting content, this has become a very challenging task for him.
After long-term polishing, Shen Weiying has designed nearly 20 micro tourism routes related to the city of Shanghai and is updating them every month. "One Hundred Years of Fragrance under the wutong Tree" tells the never widening streets in Shanghai, "The Ark in the Deep Memory of Shanghai" recalls the memory of Jewish refugees who came to Shanghai, "One River, One River, One Hundred Years of Feeling" walks and shows the past and present of the Huangpu River and Suzhou River, and "The Commercial Legend of the Ten mile Ocean Market" tells the stories of people who were active in Shanghai
In March of this year, Shen Weiying left her original company, which had served for nearly 15 years, and began "light entrepreneurship" in urban micro games. Now, the tourists who come to participate in his micro tour lecture group include university teachers and students, corporate clients, as well as many family and child tourists, many of whom come through word-of-mouth. Shen Weiying found that almost everyone participating in micro tourism routes is interested and eager to explore Shanghai itself. In the recognition of tourists, he can also feel the meaning of his work more - the more he understands Shanghai, the more he loves it.
As a senior tour guide, Lai Lijun, who works for Jinjiang Tourism, has previously assisted Tibet as an English tour guide and also served as a tour guide for Japanese and European routes and inbound tour guides. Due to a significant decline in inbound tourists, the frequency of leading groups for Lailijun has decreased significantly this year. Before the epidemic, he had to go two or three times a week to the Yufo Temple, Yu Garden and other Shanghai attractions that foreign tourists often go to. This year, he went once a month. Recently, Lai Lijun has transferred to work on the Japan South Korea route for outbound operations.
Lai Lijun takes tourists on urban micro tour routes.
In the past three years, Lai Lijun has also gained new insights, and he has also embarked on a deep cultivation model for urban micro tourism in Shanghai. He can take on various routes in Shanghai, such as urban archaeology, architecture for reading, museum nights, and bilingual parent-child tourism. Despite spending 4-5 hours a day studying Chinese and English books and literature related to Shanghai during the epidemic, Lai Lijun still finds it difficult to lead a good urban micro tour group.
"A few years ago, many people were working on micro tour routes in Shanghai, but less than 10% of them have persisted until now and are able to do well. Take a 3.5-hour micro tour explanation as an example, tour guides need to have sufficient knowledge reserves and a large amount of input to have high-quality output." Lai Lijun said. Taking the Shikumen theme in the micro tour route as an example, in addition to the architecture itself, the tour guide should also comprehensively study the history of Shanghai's urban construction and the history of Shanghai's immigration, and then extract the essence in his own language and tell it to the tourists; It tells the track of Mr. Lu Xun in Shanghai, from his former residence, Lu Xun Park to Neishan Bookstore, to Mr. Lu Xun's works in the left-wing period, which involve many places and complicated clues. How to better present the essence in a limited time also tests the ability of the line designer and narrator.
As a senior tourism practitioner once said, being a city micro tour instructor is a task that may seem simple, but it is difficult to do well. When preparing for the route, he often asks himself, "What's different about what you're talking about? Why do tourists spend money to listen to you? How can the route be designed better?" So he takes each micro tour route more seriously. In the past three years, excellent tour guides like Shen Weiying and Lai Lijun, who were originally accustomed to traveling around the world all year round, have grown into the backbone of Shanghai's urban micro tourism. They have presented the profound historical and cultural heritage and diverse lifestyles of this city to more tourists, allowing more people to deeply understand and love Shanghai.
