Recent，Shanghai’s “tourist street” that has been dormant for a long time is becoming lively again。

Within one kilometer around People’s Park and Tibet Middle Road，Nearly a hundred offline tourism stores，Including Zhongxin、CITS、Jinjiang Tourism、Jinlv (formerly CYTS) and other traditional travel agency stores，Also includes Ctrip、Offline stores of Internet companies such as Lvmama。

On both sides of the streets hundreds of meters away in Jiangnanxi, Guangzhou，Tongcheng Travel、Ctrip Travel、Nanhu International Travel Service、Golden Horse International Travel Service、Spring and Autumn Travel、Guangzhi、Online and offline brands such as Tuniu Travel are also gathering here。

Surge in online traffic costs，Forcing OTAs to go offline to find traffic entrances。Leveraging the momentum of “new retail”，Offline tourism stores that were once regarded as backward in productivity，Becoming the attention of OTA again，The "mouse + cement" model is gradually emerging。

188bet app download

Past year，China’s tourism market continues to maintain rapid growth，The growth prospects are very promising。

According to statistics from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism，The number of domestic tourists in 2018 is 55.3.9 billion visitors，10 more than the same period last year.8%；Total number of inbound and outbound tourists 2.9.1 billion people，YoY growth of 7.8%；Total tourism revenue achieved throughout the year 5.97 trillion yuan，10 year-on-year increase.5%。

But compared with the prosperous tourism consumer market，Tourism companies are not having an easy time。

According to data provided by Qixinbao，Between 2015 and 2018，The number of revoked and deregistered enterprises in the tourism industry is 1283、3013、2313、4285。The situation is even more severe this year，As of March，3006 companies have been revoked or canceled。

Data source: Qixinbao

Pure offline travel agencies are closing down in large numbers。Especially offline stores whose main business is short-term peripheral travel，Losing advantage due to OTA crowding。

Due to single product supply，Service level and experience cannot meet the needs of young consumers，Offline enterprise service targets are also limited to elderly customers and group tours。With the impact of the Internet，Many standardized 188bet app download tourism products are becoming more and more transparent，Compressed the profit margins of some traditional tourism operators who rely on gray income。

Xing Haobin, the store manager of Ctrip Travel People’s Square Store, has been a travel franchise store for more than 10 years，He expressed to TMTPost，The impact of the Internet and OTA on offline operations，The biggest impact is the one-day trip、Tourism products such as two-day tours。The procedures for these products are cumbersome，The profit is only ten to twenty yuan，Counting labor costs and property costs，Actually, I have been losing money。And low profits have also lowered service levels，Creating a vicious cycle。“Sale of these goods，The efficiency is far less than OTA”。

Over the years，Single product for customer group、Meager profits、Low service level is a common problem of many tourism companies，Under the vicious cycle, the living environment of traditional tourism offline stores has been deteriorating。

But this does not mean that offline stores have no value。In fact，Since 2015，Those OTAs who once shouted "subvert offline"，They all started to embrace offline respectively。

For example, Tuniu started to expand offline stores as early as 2015，Also clearly adjusted the store strategy at the end of 2017。Tuniu has invested heavily in offline operations。According to financial report disclosure，Tuniu opened 345 new stores last year，As of December 31, 2018，Has 509 self-operated stores。

Lv Mama has been setting up offline stores since the beginning of 2015，More than 1,100 nationwide.

Starting in 2017，After Ctrip has integrated Travel Know-how and Qunar’s offline stores，Also planning to open its own brand store。Currently，Has been deployed in 278 cities across the country，The total number reaches more than 7,000，And sink the channels to third- and fourth-tier cities，Even county-level cities。

Excellent time to return: the rise of new retail concepts

Crossing the river by feeling for stones in the past two or three years，Let OTAs recognize the reality: although online travel is becoming more and more popular，But the scale of the entire tourism market does not exceed 15%，Not a large proportion。And the penetration rate in lower-tier cities such as the central and western regions is even lower。

In other words，Today, more than 70% of people still choose to place orders offline、Purchase tickets、Consumption。

To this，Online travel service providers all know this，Online penetration alone is not enough。"Consumption，It is difficult to distinguish it as purely online or offline。” Li Li, general manager of Ctrip’s travel channel business unit, told TMTPost。

“The Internet is a tool，Customers cannot be divided into online customers and offline customers。Travel is an intangible product，Low degree of standardization。Especially long-term travel products，It is difficult 188bet sports betting app download to provide good products and services only online。So customers rely on offline services，The demand for consulting services, especially for salesmen, is still very strong。”

Back in 2015、2016，Many OTAs have begun to deploy offline stores。But due to the lack of complete business logic，Most of OTA’s offline stores develop slowly。

And 2018，The concept of new retail was proposed，Different from traditional retail model，New retail naturally has Internet genes，OTAs realize，The opportunity has come。Meanwhile，Offline forces have also seen the interactive changes brought by the Internet，From resisting cooperation to looking forward to OTA’s intervention，Both parties hit it off。

"I originally thought，Ctrip is my lifelong rival。" Xing Haobin said with emotion to TMTpost Media。He has been a franchisee of a traditional travel agency for more than ten years，The emergence and popularity of OTA，Let travel agency stores that only offer group tours be quickly marginalized。“As a traditional operator，Hate Ctrip very much”。

However，When Ctrip announced its offline brand store plan，Xing Haobin quickly chooses to join。Xing Haobin is very aware of the traffic anxiety of online travel companies，But he hopes that the addition of OTA can truly change the offline business format。He paid a franchise fee of 10,000 yuan、30,000 yuan deposit，Successively in Songjiang, Shanghai、Zhongshan Park and People’s Square have joined 3 Ctrip brand stores。

Xing Haobin expressed to Titanium Media，Air tickets、Hotels and other products have been standardized by OTA，And intercept young users online，At the same time, the onlineization of many travel and vacation products has compressed the profits of offline travel agencies。However, the product supply and the quality of the underlying service personnel in the tourism market cannot meet the needs of consumers。

“OTA needs offline, and we also need OTA.”

We need traffic, but also conversions

In the context of the downward trend of industry-wide traffic dividend，OTAs’ expectations for offline channels，Already have the idea of ​​acquiring customers from pure traffic，Transform to increase conversions。To this，Tension expression，The double slowdown in smartphone sales and owner numbers actually means the fading of traffic dividend，The ceiling of online customer acquisition has appeared。Compared to the simple number of customers，Today’s companies have realized the problem of transaction user conversion。

Among them，The most mainstream choice is to launch popular variety shows in the hope of expanding awareness among young users，JiTuniu、Mama Donkey、The T2O pan-entertainment marketing model mentioned by Tongcheng and other brands。

In this so-called T2O marketing boom，Tuniu rushed to the front，In addition to launching dual endorsements by Jay Chou and Jimmy Lin，Also crazy sponsors of the 188bet app most popular variety shows such as "Where Are We Going, Dad"、"If You Are the One"、"Run, Brother"、"Sisters Over Flowers"、"The Strongest Brain 2"、"The Voice of China"，A film and television company has also been established to create the "post-90s" travel reality show "Let's Go" and other programs。Just sponsoring the fourth season of "Running Brothers" cost 1.4.5 billion RMB。

Mother Donkey sponsored the "Report！Coach》、"Bell's Adventure"、"Mamma Mia"、"Happy Comedian" and other variety shows；Tongcheng collaborated with Tencent Video to launch the online drama "The World Is So Big"。Although Ctrip adheres to the principle of not spending huge sums of money and not naming the company，Also participated in "Hokage Information Bureau"、"Xiao Song Qi Tan" and other variety shows，And embedded in TV series such as "Across the Ocean to See You"。

Although each company has spent a lot of investment，But they are often just familiar faces in front of the TV sets of more than 1 billion people，The actual customer acquisition and conversion effects are not ideal。Profit problems caused by poor conversion，Already common in OTA，Let the enterprise be overwhelmed。

Take Tuniu as an example，Since listing in 2014，Once insisted on trading losses for market growth，Resulting in Tuniu’s losses reaching 4 for three consecutive years.600 million、14.600 million and 2.4 billion yuan。Finally under pressure from many parties，Tuniu consciously reduces brand marketing expenses，。Take the second quarter of 2017 as an example，The operating fee is 5.29.2 billion yuan ($78.1 million)，Decreased by 41 compared with the same period in 2016.1%。Sales and marketing expenses are 2.21.9 billion yuan ($32.7 million)，Decreased by 64 year-on-year.3%。

Ctrip CEO Sun Jie mentioned it as early as 2017Q3 financial report conference call，The online penetration rate of China’s tourism and vacation industry is still very low，Offline stores are a good complement to Ctrip，can help Ctrip provide more detailed services，And customers whose conversion is difficult to obtain through online channels。

Currently，Compared with online，The offline conversion effect is more intuitive。“Because customers generally only choose to go to offline stores for consultation when they have clear travel plans，The performance of the store staff will be directly related to the guest’s travel decision”。

Titanium Media learned，Currently there are 24 branches under Ctrip、Stores in 108 counties and cities，Most of them are absolutely profitable，The remaining small number of stores are still in a flat state，Because the opening time is still short，Less than one year，Actively expanding business、The stage of occupying the market。

Ctrip Travel Channel Business Department conducted data analysis on Ctrip travel stores in four super first-tier cities in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen，188bet online sports betting Discovered after considering all circumstances，In Shanghai，Although the expenses are higher in the process of operating the store，But based on the richness of the product、The professionalism of the store，It is also relatively attractive to users，The proportion of strangers taking the initiative to visit is also very high，its monthly average square footage ranks first among the four cities，Reached 2.About 60,000 yuan。

According to Zhang Zhang’s introduction，The conversion rate of customers entering the store is generally tens of percent，And good stores can reach 40% to 50%。Compare to，The online conversion rate is only two to three percent，Some even only a few thousandths。

“And in lower-tier cities，The store’s customer acquisition cost is lower”，Tension expression，Many store managers do not need to place orders or advertise at all，You can make good profits by relying on location advantages and regular customers。For example，Ctrip Travel Mengzi Road Store，Monthly effect up to 5.40,000 yuan。 

OTA has been shouting “mouse + cement” for many years，Whether travel retail has been upgraded？

can see，The integration of online and offline in this wave is very different from the previous O2O wave，The demands and perceptions of all parties have also undergone new changes。

“OTA needs to be converted，Seeking customer flow through offline channels，The two sides are no longer fighting to the death”。Zhou Haitao thinks，Can online and offline integration be truly achieved，To a large extent, it depends on whether both parties can promote store operation efficiency and upgrade offline travel products。

In the eyes of tension，In this wave of so-called upgrades，OTA exports products and systems offline。Zhang Zhang expressed to Titanium Media，OTA as an online platform，You should play your role well。“Satisfaction must reach offline，This is a trend。”

“We also have a detailed understanding of the sales of profitable stores，I found that the profit status is better，Stores with higher profits，It sells a very large proportion of group tours and customized tour products。" Zhang Li said。

Take group tour as an example，Zhang Li found that the high-premium products currently recognized by users are long-term products with additional customized services。“Group tours may not be outdated，It’s just that there is a lack of travel products in the market that can hit consumers’ pain points。”

On this basis，The operating ideas of offline store forces are also being adjusted。Xing Haobin told Titanium Media，Compared with previously operated franchise stores，The three Ctrip brand stores he currently operates have changed their thinking: their products focus on long-term travel, especially outbound travel。Among them，Existing group tour，Also includes semi-self-guided tours、Customized tours and other high premium products。

Then，Such high-end products bring huge returns。For example, mid- to high-end European tour，You can buy it at the price of 16,000 to 17,000。High-end tours adopt an all-inclusive model，Generally, 15% of the vacancy rate will be reserved to ensure tourists’ riding experience。The annual revenue of the Songjiang store he joined Ctrip is 16 million yuan；The Zhongshan Park store, which opened in May last year, has now completed more than 26.8 million yuan in revenue。

According to Zhang Zhang’s disclosure，Ctrip Travel Huaihai East Road store undertook a single business in 2018，Bali Customized Tour，Up to 536 people，The final transaction amount exceeded 4.5 million。And in early March this year, a customized tour business of Guta Park Store in Jinzhou, Liaoning，The transaction amount is nearly 12 million，Earned the annual transaction volume of many stores。“From the background transaction data，Customized travel orders exceeding 600,000 yuan are generated almost every day across the country。”

In addition to product empowerment，Zhang Zhang thinks，There is a lack of a sound service talent training system offline all year round，This is also an important reason for frequent travel disputes in the past。For this，Ctrip also opened the "Ctrip Store Academy" specifically for young franchisees。However，Zhang Li also confessed，Talent system is just the foundation。

Although the store war has once again heated up the offline channels of tourism，But according to the standards of new retail，There is still a lot of room for improvement。Especially in this market，There are already many differentiated old brands with good reputations，For example, Caesar Travel、China Youth Travel Service, etc.。

Zhang Zhang thinks，OTA stores are still in their early stages，The future of tourism offline stores is actually an interaction that focuses on service and consultation、Experience、Interaction Center，Rather than simply selling goods。This requires offline stores to not only increase interaction with surrounding communities, consolidate old customers, and connect with new customers，And take advantage of VR、AR and other technological elements assist in improving the store experience。“This is the direction of the next round of store upgrades。”

*Source of this article: Titanium Media，Author: Gao Mengyang，Original title: "Card location "New Retail"，OTAs enter the travel store war amid traffic anxiety》.