Middle class parents' summer study abroad account book: Spending nearly 100000 yuan on outsourcing in 14 days overseas | Institutions | Parents

"Our summer study tour in Japan is almost complete, but we started relatively late. This year, everyone is crazily seizing market share, and many institutions have been recruiting summer students since March." Adeline, the head of Shanghai Fun Play parent-child program, said that summer vacation is approaching, and the enrollment work of several international study tour institutions has come to an end.

With the return of outbound tourism, the long dormant international study tour has once again returned to the public eye. What is the current situation of the study tour track where new and old players gather? What is the prospect?

"The number of registrations has nearly doubled compared to before"

Recently, Cao Shuai has been busy until four or five in the morning. The UK study program he led has ended its registration and is currently busy communicating with UK schools regarding classes and accommodation matters. Due to the time difference with Britain, Cao Shuai's schedule had to be reversed.

Cao Shuai is the principal of an English training institution in Shihezi, Xinjiang. Since 2016, the school has launched a study abroad program in the UK every summer. Due to the epidemic, the project was suspended and only resumed in April this year.

"Previously, there were only 15 or 16 students every year on average. This year is the year with the largest number of students, and 27 students have been recruited across the country, nearly doubling." Cao Shuai said that his publicity channels are not many, mainly WeChat friends circle, Tiktok publicity, and there are no offline channels such as sales personnel running the market. But even so, the number of inquiries received this year is still very high. "Due to the start of operating short videos, there have been more students from other provinces and cities such as Chengdu and Shanghai this year."

Adeline is a newcomer who has just joined the company for a study tour this year. Previously, her company mainly provided local services for strolling children. She said that choosing to open a study tour business at this time also saw the business opportunities for outbound travel this year. "Firstly, outbound travel has resumed this year, making visa application easier and travel more convenient. Secondly, the long-standing demand for going out will be released this year. I have also arranged summer activities such as study tours and summer camps for my children, which meet the social needs of both parents and children. Thirdly, in the post pandemic era, the public's demand for healthy outdoor activities has increased, such as hiking, exploration, and emerging sports such as frisbee. Summer camps with these activities as the theme have also emerged."

Daily consumption of two to three thousand yuan

What is the purpose of studying abroad?

In the eyes of some parents, studying abroad is an experiential package that can enhance their children's experience and broaden their horizons in a short period of time.

"When my son was five years old, we attended a parent-child summer camp in the UK with him. Although he could speak English at school, there were too few scenarios for him to apply it after leaving school. I hope he can realize that English is a communication tool through living in an English speaking country, and also stimulate his desire to learn English." Winnie, a mother from Shanghai, told China News Service, "In addition, I want my child to experience different countries, cultures, and geography more, so that he is curious and exploratory about the world. Next, we also want to take our child to Switzerland to see."

What is the definition of studying abroad? Li Boyan, CMO and General Manager of Greater China at WeTalk, an international study tour organization, told China News Service that as the name suggests, study tours refer to "play+learn".

"Among them, the aspect of play can be completely solved through free travel and travel agencies, but study tours pay more attention to the part of 'learning', such as the experience of children and parents interacting in a foreign country, experiencing local cultural customs, etc. The core needs of students and parents are to let children broaden their horizons, experience the diversity of different educational environments and cultures, which cannot be solved by simple travel. In addition, an important role of study tours is to enable children and parents to understand and experience the curriculum and schools of the target country in advance, and parents are usually more concerned about the feasibility of overseas education." Li Boyan said.

"With the recovery of outbound tourism, the number of tourists and students studying abroad is rapidly increasing. According to feedback data from our sister companies in Singapore, the number of people going abroad is clearly increasing; many institutions and schools are also conducting study tours. I believe that the next one or two years will be a window period for the popularity of study tours," said Li Boyan.

Unlike many high school stage study tours on the market, Adeline's parent-child study tour program is mainly aimed at children aged 2-7 and their parents. She said that this program is more in line with the parenting philosophy of some middle-class people born in the 1990s. "Some young parents have a high level of education and are willing to invest in their children. In addition, they prefer to entrust their children to more professional institutions and would rather spend money than waste their time. Therefore, we hope to avoid parents' labor by providing services."

Cao Shuai believes that international study tours are particularly important for students in small cities. "Small cities usually have fewer opportunities than big cities, so during the summer, we should broaden our horizons, which is also the biggest demand for many parents to choose to study abroad." He also said that parents' needs are not just to let their children go abroad. "Some parents hope to cultivate a language environment and enhance their children's English learning abroad; while others hope to cultivate their children's ability to study abroad, allowing them to first learn and adapt through studying abroad, and see if they can plant a seed in their children's hearts."

According to Cao Shuai, in addition to the centralized teaching style study tours he operates, there is also a type of study tour products that mainly focus on "travel", with a very small proportion of "learning". "Although it is called a study tour, it may only have one day of teaching time, and although other itineraries are very rich, such as visiting the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the British Museum, etc., many attractions are actually free." Cao Shuai said that this type of study tour may seem attractive, but the cost is relatively low, and due to the fact that it is mostly a horse riding and fancy tour, its value is not high. "The real cost is actually reflected in the teaching aspect, not in playing."

In 2018, an article titled "Monthly salary of 30000 but unable to support a child's summer vacation" once flooded social media. In the article, the total summer expenses of families were 35000 yuan, of which only "participating in a 10 day study tour in the United States" cost 20000 yuan, becoming the "highlight" of summer consumption. How much does it cost to study abroad nowadays?

Cao Shuai said that the average fee for most 14 day study tours ranges from 38000 to 50000 yuan per person, equivalent to around 2700-3600 yuan per day; Some institutions with higher fees will focus on differentiation in terms of hard conditions such as food and accommodation. Li Boyan also stated that in addition to varying levels of consumption in different countries, prices during peak and off peak seasons will also vary.

According to parents interviewed by China News Service, the cost of a two-week study abroad for a child alone is basically around 50000 yuan, and adding another parent would almost reach 100000 yuan.

According to a report released by Ctrip in 2019, the per capita consumption price for a single summer study tour was 8641 yuan, and the average household study tour cost was 22000 yuan. Among the platform study tour products, products priced between 1000 yuan and 10000 yuan accounted for the highest proportion. Recently, Zhongxin Jingwei found through searches on multiple tourism platforms that overseas study tour products are cheaper and charge thousands of yuan, while products worth tens of thousands of yuan are everywhere. For example, the "Thailand Huaxin BYSH International School Parent Child Camp" sold on the Ctrip platform lasts for 8 days and charges 3000 yuan per person; The individual fee for the 12 day and 9 night Parent Child Camp in New Zealand is 35720 yuan; The "12 day in-depth experience of British culture tour" sold on Qunar travel platform is priced at 42393 yuan per person.

The quality of new and old institutions varies greatly

Practitioners are concerned about repurchase rates

Cao Shuai felt that since the resumption of outbound tourism, there has suddenly been an increase in the number of research institutions around him. "Some teachers around me are also starting to do study tours, and many local travel agencies are also doing so. Some travel agencies have just started to undertake international business this year and have also started to offer study tours."

According to data from Tianyancha App, there are currently over 12000 enterprises in China that mainly engage in "study tours, research tours, and summer camps", with a higher number of enterprises in Guangdong, Shandong, and Anhui. From 2020 to 2022, the number of newly added study tour related enterprises has been decreasing year by year; In the first five months of 2023, 580 new enterprises were added, a year-on-year increase of 20%.

Many educational institutions are also actively deploying study tours. According to public information, the New Oriental International Study Tour Summer Camp business started 18 years ago. From 2020 to 2022, the business temporarily stagnated and resumed in 2023. Currently, it has created over a hundred overseas study tour projects, with destinations including New Zealand, Denmark, Bali, France, and more. Xueersi is also actively promoting domestic study abroad programs in China. According to Beijing Xueersi's study abroad staff, there is currently no overseas study abroad program available; In addition, several education and training companies such as EF, Century Mingde, and New Channel have also released summer overseas study tour related products.

Cao Shuai believes that the threshold for starting a study tour is not high, and some institutions have only achieved superficial results; And many institutions that sell study tours do not personally execute them, but outsource the projects to other institutions, only making secondary sales to earn the price difference.

Due to the uneven distribution of study tours and research institutions, some inexperienced outsourcing teams also provide poor experiences for parents and children. "I took my child to participate in a postgraduate program, but the fact is that there was no postgraduate program, and she was always rushing to meet the schedule." Ms. Yang, a mother from Chengdu, Sichuan, told China News Service that she recently enrolled her child in a local postgraduate program in Chengdu. However, the initial plan was too fanciful and the actual effect was greatly reduced. "It can be seen that the third-party company responsible for this program lacks experience. Not only is the infrastructure not equipped enough, but also the company is rushing to meet the schedule. The most common words heard throughout the process are 'set off, go to the next stage', and the experience is very poor. In fact, it is not the number of activity stages that make parents decide to pay, but the quality is not precise."

"Some study tour managers are only responsible for telling customers where the highlights of their study tour products are, similar to WeChat business, selling through pictures and text. When executing, they may only lead their own team, and the specific projects are completed by outsourcing teams. Some parents may not know much about it and just leave with a teacher." Cao Shuai said that there are already institutions in contact with them, with the other party responsible for enrollment and their own team responsible for specific implementation. This cooperation model is not uncommon in the field of study tours.

Adeline also stated that there are many institutions like her that have entered the field of study tours this year, and some of them are only responsible for recruiting students and outsourcing the specific execution. "Some of the study tour sales on the market are secondary sales and not really done by oneself."

Regarding the return of this year's study tour fever, Adeline said that it can be foreseen that summer study tours will be exceptionally popular, and competition between new and old players will also enter a white heat. "Given that the service content and quality provided by study tour institutions vary, if there is a discrepancy with parents' expectations, there may be an unsatisfactory repurchase rate in the future."