Just attended the Global Travel News Summit，It’s really rewarding。However，As the author who has worked in a traditional travel agency for 23 years，What I am most concerned about is how to transform traditional travel agencies。

At this summit，Representatives from four domestic and foreign travel agencies and GDS conducted an in-depth discussion on "The Transformation of Traditional Travel Agencies"。 The author would like to share with you some of the insights I gained this time。For the specific content of the discussion, please refer to Global Travel News reporter Zeng Xiantian’s "Traditional travel agencies: Transformation? It’s not that difficult actually》Article，I won’t go into details here。Let’s talk about the author’s feelings first。

Look around the world first，What is the survival status of traditional travel agencies。These four travel agencies are all traditional big agencies，A European company，A Taiwanese company，Two domestic ones，One of them is from the north，Another one from the south。I feel that their thoughts have regional characteristics，And very representative。

European travel agencies have a very sense of crisis，Feeling a little pessimistic。Although the two major domestic companies also feel certain uncertainty about the future，But overall very optimistic。Taiwan’s Lion Travel Agency is just in the middle。Due to the explosive growth of outbound travel by Chinese citizens from mainland China in the past two years，Based on the original market share of major domestic traditional travel agencies，Whether you are eating meat or drinking soup，Generally there are varying degrees of growth，My life is going well now；Travel agencies in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are more accepting of advanced concepts，Thinking more deeply about the combination of online and offline，Business conditions are relatively stable；Western travel agencies due to the economic downturn and the rapid development 188bet sports betting app download of the sharing economy，Not just traditional travel agencies，Even online travel agencies have been greatly affected，So the sense of crisis is very strong。

The author feels that their status may imply that China’s domestic traditional travel agencies will face three stages of development: they are very optimistic now，All kinds of data are beautiful；Due to the slowdown in China’s economic growth in the next 1-3 years，OTA rapidly expands market share，Difficulties in transformation of traditional travel agencies，Slowing down of development；3 years later，With the rise of various known and unknown new tourism models，Market share decline，Profits are getting thinner，There is even a wave of bankruptcies。

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First of all, the core issue of transformation is the institutional issue.Most of the traditional large travel agencies are state-owned enterprises，It is difficult for state-owned enterprises to succeed in the relatively competitive industry of tourism。Look at the development of Fetion as a good example。When Fetion was born, the concept and technology were very good，Sitting on the resources monopolized by China Mobile，Many people are very optimistic about it。However, WeChat appeared，Just two years，Everyone can see the result？Let’s talk about examples within the industry，The AirTravel booking and air ticket booking platform launched by TravelSky a few years ago，Ambitious back then，Having such good distribution channels，eterm’s technical barriers，Many innate resource advantages，Now，It’s almost useless？System reform is very complex and energy-consuming。But if not reformed，It is difficult to qualitatively improve the competitiveness of enterprises。

Secondly, it is the management’s way of thinking. First，Lack of awareness of danger。Big bosses propose that future travel agencies will blur the concepts of traditional travel agencies and OTAs，The two will gradually merge。There is nothing wrong with this formulation，It’s like there is no boundary between traditional cameras and digital cameras，Because traditional cameras have disappeared。But the problem is，Are you the Nikon or Kodak of cameras。If you think building a website is Internet+，Or if you add capital promotion, you will be ahead，This kind of thinking is really dangerous。

Second，The thinking mode is relatively backward，Or maybe the depth of thinking is not enough。For example，The transformation of the store only stops at updating the hardware，To go deeper is just to improve the consultation level of store staff，Strengthen the analysis of behavioral preferences of customers who come to the store, etc.。Completely unaware 188bet app of how to take advantage of Offline，Taiwan Lion Travel Agency used its stores to hold more than 400 lectures last year, which is difficult for OTAs to do，Made a good attempt，Worthy of reference for domestic peers。

Furthermore, the author disagrees with the emphasis on developing stores。Just like Huang Guangyu of Gome a few years ago because he was in jail，Message blocked。Still adhering to traditional ideas，Remote control Gome continues to expand its stores，Everyone has seen the result。The transformation of stores is a crucial part of traditional travel agencies，This is why several big guys mentioned it at the same time during the conversation，The author will discuss it with you in detail later。

Finally, there is a lack of Internet thinking.Maybe you will laugh，The word "Internet thinking" is almost becoming a stinker on the streets。But the author really has personal experience of this。Even if there are none of the weaknesses mentioned above，You basically can’t escape this。At present, the management of traditional large travel agencies are generally older，Traditional way of thinking。Even among the senior executives there are young ones，Most of them grew up in traditional travel agencies in the master-disciple model，The mindset of a traditional travel agency has been formed in my mind，It is very difficult to surpass。Give me your own example to share with you。about 4 years ago，The author once asked an OTA boss for advice，Why doesn’t most of its domestic routes and visa routes provide consulting services，Online payment was still a new thing at that time，Many people are not very used to it yet，Wouldn’t this lose a lot of customers？He answered that it was true，His website is under the same promotion conditions，The conversion rate is lower than that of traditional travel agencies。But he insisted on doing this for three reasons。First，The wages of his grassroots employees are not high，Short working time，Don’t know much about the destination，Allowing them to consult will increase the guests’ distrust，It is better not to consult。Second，No consultation，Completely online operation greatly reduces labor costs，The number of orders processed by his staff is several times that of traditional travel agency employees，Dozens of times，Even hundreds of times，Manual efficiency will be very high。Third，Due to significant reduction in labor costs，The prices of products on their website are greatly reduced accordingly，Thus enhancing competitiveness。For example, a Southeast Asian visa，On the Internet, he only needs to add 10-15 yuan to the cost of consulate fees to make a profit。

However, the traditional travel agency consultation process consumes a lot of staff time，Customer 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino consultation content excludes information that can be obtained from the Internet，Except those who asked because they were too lazy to look，It also involves many strategic issues in the destination country，Often makes consultants very annoyed。When I come to the store to hand over materials and pay, I still ask questions，Delaying employees a lot of time，On average, it will take nearly 2 hours。Calculating it this way，Even a visa plus a gross profit of 50 yuan，Traditional travel agencies may not make money。Fourth，He told me，Their market is nationwide，It’s not a pity even if you lose some customers who don’t know or are too lazy to operate online，Because the market is too big，Same product，Most people tend to take their own time to find the cheapest purchase。Besides, for people who are familiar with the Internet，Online signing and payment，Saved time going to the store，Also what they need。It can be seen from this，OTA’s perspective is much broader than that of traditional travel agencies，At least they know how to give up。

As the saying goes, a soldier is a coward，Will scare the whole family。The traditional way of thinking of travel agency management will also become a major obstacle to transformation。

In addition, the personnel structure of traditional travel agencies is complex and transformation is difficult。The problem of traditional travel agency personnel is not only the large age span，Between regular workers and temporary workers，And the conflict between online and offline departments，What’s more important is that most travel agencies have two business formats: direct operation and franchising。Actually, it sounds like joining，Most of them are contracted operations。Contractors can be here today，Which one can I switch to tomorrow，Weak sense of belonging to the company’s brand。The company loves and hates franchisees，On the one hand, these franchisees often work hard in the market for many years，Has strong market sensitivity，And tenacious vitality。The company not only relies on their franchise fees but also needs their performance to make their own reports。However, these franchise stores will consider their own interests when implementing the resolutions of the headquarters，If the interests are inconsistent with the headquarters，The resolution will definitely not be implemented in place。And the phenomenon of flying orders in the industry is even more unavoidable，Cannot guarantee the quality of the brand。Even if you are not a franchise store employee，Formal employees of the company，During the actual operation of the team or travel product，Due to industry characteristics，Gray income is difficult to control。So there is a phenomenon that everyone 188bet online sports betting in the industry is well aware of - the rich monk and the poor temple。Anyway，Traditional travel agencies originally relied too much on individuals in their operations，Facing all kinds of tourists，How to mobilize everyone’s enthusiasm to form a synergy，Definitely not a simple matter。

In summary，The transformation of traditional large and medium-sized travel agencies is definitely not an easy task。Then，Is there really no good way？In the classic movie "Lenin in October"，Comrade Lenin has a classic line，roughly means，A fool can ask 10 times more problems than a smart person can solve。We can’t just ask questions，The author has thought of several ways，Share with everyone here，Just give it a try。

First，The travel agency industry is not a key industry related to the national economy and people’s livelihood，We should definitely make bold reforms，Trying to introduce foreign capital，Private capital and various forms of MBO，In today’s situation where many guests still believe in traditional large shrines，Solve institutional problems as soon as possible。

Second，Management Recruitment，Absorb and learn advanced Internet concepts。Study the current newly emerging and popular economic model，Strengthen innovation。The Internet revolution is a bottom-level revolution similar to the Industrial Revolution，New economies based on Internet technology are emerging in endlessly。Management must be good at learning，Keep up with the situation。I heard that CYTS is approaching Tencent，Learn from Internet companies such as Ctrip，Trial intrapreneurship，Regardless of success or failure，These are all good attempts。What Mr. Jinjiang Bao said makes sense，Traditional travel agencies may not be defeated by OTAs in the future，But was defeated by some unknown new business format。Now，Japan has a travel service provider based on a map company，Accurately push the introduction of tourist attractions based on the guest’s location，As well as multi-level and multi-faceted accurate recommendations such as transportation, catering, accommodation and entertainment，Maybe it will become the mainstream of the market in the future。Without a sense of urgency, a sense of innovation, and a spirit of learning, it will be difficult to survive in the future。

Third，Start the reform of enterprise structure。Take a store as an example，The author talks about his own ideas。Nowadays, traditional travel agencies often have as few as a dozen，There are dozens or even hundreds of stores or branches。These stores and branches are often located in the city where the headquarters is located，Not in the second and third tier cities below。More than ten years ago，188bet sports betting app download These stores are convenient for tourists to travel，Played a major role。This is also the capital that these traditional large communities are different from OTAs and are proud of。But the author thinks，Now the store can no longer play its original role，Major surgery is necessary。Of course，The reform of these stores requires detailed analysis of specific issues，There are some franchise stores，If you don’t change, he may not be able to do it anymore。Store reform is definitely not a tinkering with hardware upgrades，It should be shut down and transferred on a large scale。High housing prices，Low traffic，Not very satisfied with the inconvenient transportation and so on，Even stores with losses must be closed down；Unable to maintain the headquarters brand，Just for a small profit，Franchise stores for private orders will be resolutely stopped；For multiple stores in the same area，Merge；Completely redefine the functions of the store，Resolute transformation。Then，What functions should the current stores have？Lion Travel Agency holds lecture，Interaction with tourists is a good direction。The other thing I can think of is that it can be used as a distribution center for one-day tours，Can be combined with scenic spots，Other places or overseas tourism bureaus conduct promotion activities, etc.。Let’s brainstorm，I will definitely be able to come up with a better direction。But one thing is for sure，That is, what can be done online must not be placed in stores，The store is an experience sharing center，Must be online and complementary，The store must play a role that cannot or is difficult to accomplish online。Only in this way can the value of the store be reflected。

Having said so much，One more reminder，The above are all the author’s imagination，Use a sentence from the stock market as a conclusion，Transformation is risky，Reform must be cautious。