Did you pay the "intelligence tax"?, Behind the popularity of summer study tours: parents who spend a high price on studying | carriers | intelligence

"Classmates, our study tour is about to depart." During the summer vacation, at the train station and airport in Wenzhou, students dressed uniformly, while "teachers" held various small flags and wore small horns, shuttling among the students and counting the number of people.

This phenomenon is not uncommon. If we don't have a "study tour" this summer, it seems like we're "outdated".

Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen... these highly distinctive places have become the main venues for study tours. At the same time, cities such as Wenzhou have also launched locally distinctive study tours.

According to data provided by the Wenzhou Travel Agency Industry Association, as early as the summer vacation, major travel agencies in Wenzhou had already launched popular study tours. By the end of June this year, many study tour projects had already been sold out, with many remaining spots at the end of August. According to big data from Tongcheng Travel, the search popularity for "study tours" increased by 203% in July, surpassing that of parent-child tours.

Frequent occurrences of research tours

Despite the current popularity of research tours, there are still many problems that come with them.

From the itinerary of some travel groups, it can be seen that "research" and "learning" are not the key points, while "travel" becomes the key.

Famous universities, museums, and tourist attractions are all mandatory check-in options. Many travel agencies attract the attention of parents and children by setting distinct themes for studying, such as the Maritime Silk Road Business Chronicles, Island Adventurers, and Scientist Practice Day, adding some color to their study tours.

According to Ctrip data, the summer museum order volume increased by 232% year-on-year, and the order volume of research tourism products increased by more than 30 times year-on-year. According to data from Tujia Homestay, the pre order volume of tourist destination homestays that can "combine education with entertainment, and let history go beyond textbooks" has increased by nearly 70% compared to the same period in 2019.

Such a popular study tour has also given rise to many situations where the goods are not the right ones. Previously, there were "parents exposed that they didn't even enter the entrance of the Beijing study tour for a thousand yuan" and "the study group illegally booked 139 people to enter Peking University and charged 1.5 million yuan". Later, there were "accommodation conditions for the Shanghai summer camp changed from 2-8 people to 12 people" and "dormitories have no windows, are damp and dark, and there are mold spots on the blankets and pillows".

In addition, expensive prices have also become another major feature of study tours.

On some tourism platforms, study tours often cost tens of thousands, and a foreign study tour can even cost nearly 100000 yuan. Many netizens exclaim that this is not a study tour, but a "wealth tour".

A 6-day 5-night product in Beijing shows that a child under the age of 12 needs to spend more than 6000 yuan, and the price is even higher for those over 12 years old. This means that the average daily cost of registering for a summer study group is around 1000 yuan. On the tourism platform, the price of a 6-day and 5-night Beijing pure play group is around 4000 yuan.

Source: CCTV News

What is the difference between such an expensive price and a regular tourist group?

"The price is very high, but the children feel that it is not different from ordinary tourist groups. They still have to walk 20000 to 30000 steps every day, and there is no pleasure in studying." Ms. Wang from Wenzhou signed up a Shanghai research group for the 13-year-old child, but the child did not have the pleasure he imagined after returning. Instead, roast that the visiting time has not been long in line, and there was not much introduction to the scenic spots, even the organizers themselves did not know what "research" was.

The unclear content, inflated prices, and unreasonable scheduling of graduate studies are also the characteristics of some graduate study groups nowadays.

Like the 5-day "I'm Going to Peking University, Join Hands at Tsinghua" Summer Camp. I have to wake up at 6:30 in the morning and can only fall asleep after 10:00 in the evening. There are also heart to heart conversations and homework tasks. Most of the time, I listen to lectures and share my growth experiences from the top students in Qingbei. "Research" and "learning" are not reflected at all, and even "traveling" is rare.

Another netizen said, "When going out to play, I saw many children from the study group walking tirelessly under the scorching sun, and when they got tired, they would just lie on the ground."

Study tours are still popular

Even though the chaos persists, it cannot be denied that the research and learning game market is still thriving.

Jin Zhan, Executive Director of Zhejiang Jingcheng International Tourism Co., Ltd., stated that research tours in Wenzhou are currently very popular, and Beijing is one of the hottest destinations this year, mostly for elementary and middle school children. In June, the group period for June and July had already been filled, and now only a small number of spots are available for the group period at the end of August.

Why is the market still hot?

"I can't distinguish what a study tour or summer camp is... It's just that many of my child's classmates have signed up, and I think we need to give them a report so that there can be common topics among classmates." Many parents are a bit vague about the concept of study tours, and even blindly follow the trend of signing up just to let their child and classmates have something to talk about.

Parents attach great importance to their children's learning by not letting them lose at the starting line and allowing them to experience the atmosphere of the university campus in advance. In addition, schools such as Tsinghua and Peking University have resumed campus appointment visits, which has further fueled the popularity of research tours. Many parents even become anxious and blindly pay for their children's enrollment in study groups.

In fact, the popularity of study tours is essentially caused by parents' educational anxiety.

Some businesses are also seizing this opportunity to enter the research and learning market. Under the guise of "research-oriented learning" and the label of "Peking University and Tsinghua University academic leaders leading teams", low-cost games are packaged as high-end research-oriented learning tours, and profits are made from them.

Furthermore, in 2016, the Ministry of Education and 11 other departments issued the "Opinions on Promoting Research Travel for Primary and Secondary School Students", which included research travel in the national primary and secondary education teaching plan.

The attention paid by relevant departments to study tours, slogans such as "famous school tours" and "academic leaders leading teams" promoted by businesses, coupled with parents' emphasis on their children's education, have made study tours a benchmark for society. This may be the reason why parents are still eager to sign up for graduate school tours, even if the arrangements are rough.

Guangxi has launched its first national research and education special train this summer. Tuyuan CCTV News Client

So, what exactly is a study tour?

Research tours mean that students can step out of school and engage in extracurricular practical activities that combine research-based learning and travel experiences. Among them, "research" is the foundation, "learning" is the purpose, and "travel" is the carrier. In the study tour, one should "study" and "learn" to gain something.

In March 2023, Luo Shugang, Chairman of the Education, Science, Culture, and Health Committee of the National People's Congress, publicly stated that the fundamental difference between research-based travel products and other tourism products lies in the focus on "learning" rather than "action". Without "action", research-based travel is definitely not feasible and cannot achieve the effect of learning. If we ignore "learning" and rely solely on "travel" to attract primary and secondary school students on research trips, it is a reversal of priorities. Nowadays, the most common problem that arises during study tours is having more leisure time but not enough learning.

How to Continuously Make Efforts in Research Tour

At present, the market for study tours is still in its early stages. According to data from Qichacha, there are currently 14900 research travel related enterprises in China. Among them, in the first five months of 2023, China added 322 new research travel related enterprises, an increase of nearly 80% year-on-year.

Half of this summer vacation has passed, and children have not gained knowledge from study tours. Parents blindly follow the trend and sign up for their children. Businesses provide low-quality, high price, poor environment, downgraded food and accommodation, and fancy horse watching tours to make money... These problems with study tours are gradually being exposed.

Faced with such a "study tour", why not calm down and think about how the "study tour" can continue to exert its strength?

The formulation of standards for research tours is currently an urgent issue that needs to be addressed. The reason why there are many unreasonable research and learning products in the market is that the standards for research and learning tours are not clear. How can it be considered a study tour? This requires relevant government departments to establish corresponding education standards, so that research tours can live up to their name.

Parents, as the main buyers of study tours, the most important thing is to make rational choices. At present, many study tours are independent groups, which means that children have to leave their parents and study alone. The risks involved need to be borne by parents themselves. And parents must think calmly before choosing to sign up for their children's study tours. Understand the child's wishes, research tour product content, etc., and do not blindly follow the trend and choose unsuitable products.

Merchants are the designers of study tours. If you don't want a study tour to become a "study tour", businesses should first understand what a study tour is before designing study tour products. The design of research and learning products should also be more cautious, with more enriched content, so that children can "come with joy" and "return with a full load".

"Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles" may be the meaning of the study tour. Study tours are not just about "education+tourism", but rather the integration of the two, playing while learning and learning while playing. There is still a long way to go before "study tour" can become the "study excellence" in the minds of parents and children.