Early January 2020，Guan Yue who opened a travel agency in Beijing，Preparing to take advantage of the Spring Festival。One year ago，He started from scratch，Set goals，“Surviving one year is victory”。

Guan Yue thought that this victory seemed not far away.

Some previous data gave him unlimited hope。One week before the Spring Festival，China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism also made optimistic predictions，The number of Chinese Spring Festival travelers in 2020 is expected to exceed 4.500 million，Among them, the number of outbound tourists will exceed 7 million。

The arrival of the “Black Swan” was unexpected—the rapid spread of COVID-19，Makes the wind direction change，The tide of withdrawal and reform is coming，From a big platform like Ctrip，Go to countless small travel agencies，No production link in the tourism industry is spared。

The “profit” at the beginning of the new year has vanished into thin air，How to survive，It has become a more realistic and urgent problem now。

From a macro perspective，Wei Xiaoan, chief expert of the World Tourism Cities Federation, recently revealed，2019，China’s total tourism revenue 6.5 trillion yuan，Stay for one day，That’s a loss of 17.8 billion yuan。

Today，Although the haze brought by the epidemic is difficult to resolve for the time being，Many tourism companies are gradually adjusting their mentality，Take advantage of the situation to transform or stay together for warmth，Trying to survive，And looking forward to the strong rebound of the tourism industry after the epidemic。

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January 31，Guan Yue posted a Weibo post，The tone can’t hide the helplessness，"It seems now，It was stupid to open a store last year。”

His colleagues also felt extremely tortured，“I was hoping to make some money during the Spring Festival and winter holidays，As a result, all orders were returned in the first two days of the new year，You can only drink the northwest wind in 2020。”

Scenic area closed，Cultural activities canceled；Many B&Bs、The hotel is also closed indefinitely；Part of the payment advanced to the supplier cannot be recovered，Rent、Manpower can only be used as needed，188bet app It has made many small and medium-sized travel agencies even worse，Complaining incessantly。

Early morning of February 1st，Guan Yue, who had been suffering from insomnia for a week, suddenly realized，“Wake up。”

Rolled out of bed，He quickly dialed the employee’s phone number，Overtime schedule arranged，“We have to do two things now，First, handle customer refunds，The second is to collect refunds from suppliers as soon as possible。" Guan Yue's tone was urgent，Keep emphasizing to employees，“We can only tide over the difficulties together。”

Hang up the phone，Guan Yue starts to make longer-term plans，It is of course a top priority to survive the crisis moment when you can only get out but cannot get in，But this extreme event，It made Guan Yue begin to examine his ability to deal with risks。

"To improve capabilities，What else can we do during this time？" He asked himself repeatedly。

Next day，Guan Yue’s decision，Wait until the upstream and downstream refund matters are processed，will"Cultivation of internal strength" from three aspects，“The first priority is to redeploy personnel，Simplify the personnel structure as much as possible，Reduce operating costs；The second is to insist on optimizing tourism products during this period，Develop new lines，And use online platforms for promotion；The third is to encourage employees to use this time to receive re-education，Improve your own abilities。”

In fact，Get busy as planned，Guan Yue’s anxiety has been relieved a lot，“There must be a road before the car reaches the mountain，Before this，Instead of being dejected，Why not get ready。”

Huang Yuexia, who runs two Ctrip travel stores in Chengdu，Also made the same choice。

December 2019，Huang Yuexia just invested hundreds of thousands of savings into a new store，At that time, she was full of expectations for the beginning of 2020，“But reality poured cold water on it。”

New Year’s Eve，Facing millions of chargebacks，And uninterrupted customer calls，Huang Yuexia sat at her desk and cried bitterly，“Five years in the industry，At that moment, I felt that everything was going to be in vain。”

But despair is temporary，Huang Yuexia quickly realized，"Being passive and slowing down work is definitely not the answer。”So，Two days and two nights in a row，Huang Yuexia and the 7 store employees will resolve all chargebacks。

Next，Huang Yuexia learned about Ctrip’s platform’s “Store Care Plan” from her peers—Ctrip’s decision，Temporarily waived store management fees，The extension of the quota task naturally made her feel relieved，At the same time，She decided to make good use of the courses launched on Ctrip University APP，Let all employees register accounts，Set a study plan。

"Cultivation of internal strength，In order to cope with the next crisis。"Huang Yuexia told Zinc Scale，“I also want to learn through it，Enhance the ability to deal with risks，Enhance the ability to deal with risks。”

There are also more financial constraints，Overwhelmed small and medium-sized travel agencies have no time to practice，Just want to "live"。In order to make up for the losses caused by the cancellation of orders，Some small and medium-sized travel agencies have started micro-business，Start selling masks and disinfectant。

This is not unprecedented - during SARS 17 years ago，A travel agency after business suspension，Once sold vegetables online，Meet people’s rigid needs，Also brings a certain amount of cash flow。

Vikki, the person in charge of a travel agency in Chengdu, told Zinc Scale，After the epidemic becomes serious，She immediately contacted the tour guide in charge of overseas travel，Purchased a large number of masks。"Originally just to ensure the safety of the team and passengers，Unexpectedly, almost all passengers canceled their orders，Only masks can be sold，Earn a middle price。”Vikki said。

With the spread of the epidemic，There is an increasing shortage of masks in China，Vikki has replenished goods from overseas many times，Sell it in Moments with employees。

“Basically sold out。”Vikki said，It has been difficult to find the supply of foreign masks in recent days，The team started selling disinfectant，“There is no other way，Travel business stopped，You can only find compensation through these methods。”

"After all，If you want to wait for spring，You have to survive first。”Vikki sighed。

OTA companies help themselves while promoting industry mutual assistance

Compared to small and medium-sized enterprises，When large enterprises and platforms face crisis，Be much calmer，But the economies are closely linked，The stagnation period has arrived，The future is still uncertain，They also had to save themselves as soon as possible。

“The tourism industry is one of the industries greatly affected by the epidemic，Facing huge challenges，Practitioners are working together，Together we will overcome the difficulties。" said Li Xinyu, Vice President of Ctrip Group。

Take Ctrip as an example，The current self-rescue and policy work is divided into two parts，Process the backlog of orders and smoothly refund C-side customers as soon as possible；Appease B-side partners，Including shared losses。

February 11，According to the data provided by Ctrip official to Zinc Scale，From the beginning of the epidemic，The number of incoming phone calls for Ctrip’s accommodation business has doubled，Up to 8 times at the highest，Hotel Butler (online customer service) even reached 12 times。Meanwhile，The demand for ticket refunds and changes has increased nearly 10 times。

This huge refund data is understandable。After all，According to tradition，Spring Festival holiday，Is an important source of income for the travel industry in the first quarter。

 “Currently Ctrip has a total of 14,900 customer service staff，But during the epidemic，There are far more customer service staff than this number。There are far more customer service staff than this number。

Behind the epidemic，It is the hard work of front-line grassroots employees in all walks of life，The tourism industry is no exception。

New Year’s Eve，Ctrip Train Ticket Service Director Chen Guang did not go home，But worked continuously for more than ten hours，I could 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino only apologize and write a red envelope IOU to my daughter。Deng Xiaoli and Lu Zijun from Nantong BPO operations，Actively stayed in Chibi to work - Chibi is only half an hour away from Wuhan by high-speed rail，It is also an area with serious epidemic situation，Under local traffic control conditions，But I walk more than half an hour to go to work every day。

Nevertheless，Ctrip is still honest about the impact of the epidemic，The loss will not be small。"Because we are still dealing with various issues such as customer cancellations and changes，The specific amount of actual losses has not been calculated yet，If calculated by market value，The highest market value loss reached 6.5 billion US dollars。”

Previously，After Ctrip’s 20th birthday，Ctrip has set a new goal - to become the largest in Asia within three years、Become the world’s largest tourism company within five years。“Internationalization” has become Ctrip’s “third venture”。

However，January 31，World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic has been classified as a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)"。Although WHO does not recommend denying trade visas to China、Border control and other measures，However, some countries are still gradually strengthening their entry control over China。

On the same day，The team led by Ctrip tour guide Xue Qiyuan was blocked when entering Israel。“Being a tour guide for 18 years，This is the first time I have been ‘shut out’ like this。”

final，After Ctrip Jordan’s ground transportation agency and Beijing office joined in the assistance，Xue Qiyuan brought 15 domestic tourists，Traveled to Jordan within 48 hours、Israel，Experienced entry、Rejected、Investigation、Reentry，Finally at 5 am on February 3rd，Only before I was able to return to China smoothly。

Ctrip said frankly，"Although Ctrip has quickly activated the emergency mechanism，However, these restrictive measures will still have a lasting impact on overseas markets for a certain period of time。”

However，A Ctrip executive said，What is certain in the long run，Overseas markets also include overseas guests booking overseas travel products，This business is temporarily not affected by the epidemic，For example, some foreign tourists who originally planned to travel to China have turned their attention to China’s neighboring countries，Ctrip also has a high market share in these Southeast Asian countries，Can make up for it to a certain extent。

On the B side，OTA companies have also realized the importance of industry mutual assistance。The person in charge of an intermediary agency told Zinc Scale，Loss caused by countless chargebacks，If you pass it on to yourself，"That was almost a disaster"。

With the spread of the epidemic，From January 20th，OTA platform is led by Ctrip，Successively issued a full promise 188bet sports betting app download of "unsubscription without loss"，And activate a series of corresponding emergency mechanisms - activate major disaster guarantee funds、Expand the scope of unsubscription protection、Issue a special unsubscription policy...

Ctrip disclosed that，February 5，Ctrip announced the launch of the “Tongpao” program to partners on its platform，Including launching a 1 billion yuan supplier partner support fund，Relieving the pressure on capital turnover for platform cooperation suppliers；Responsible for the non-deductible air tickets in the Spring Festival cancellation order for the group tour travel agency supplier、Hotel、Visa、Car and ground transportation resource costs，We will try our best to reduce the losses of supplier partners based on the resources policy obtained by Ctrip platform。

Not just Ctrip，Many large chain travel agencies including Zhongxin Travel，Also launched a similar commitment。Yu Dunde, founder and CEO of Tuniu Travel Network also said，“Of course we hope to bear the losses together with our partners，But if there are obstacles in the negotiation，We guarantee the truth。“

Cui Li, Vice President of Qyer.com, also thinks so，The impact of this epidemic is on the entire industry，Including all upstream and downstream enterprises，All companies face common difficulties。In the face of the epidemic，Need to increase communication between upstream and downstream enterprises，Let’s face this epidemic together。

Spring will eventually arrive, looking forward to a rebound in demand

Review of SARS in 2003，It also caused a huge blow to the tourism industry。Starting from April，The two-month SARS outbreak period，It became the last "cold winter" for the tourism industry。

Ctrip at that time，Rely on training employees、Business process optimization，Maintain the original scale，Survived the freezing period，Spring is ushering in—after the “double lifting” in June 2003，The tourism industry shows “retaliatory growth”，Recover quickly，And ushered in a blowout in October。

Ctrip revealed to Zinc Scale，The month when SARS ended，Ctrip platform ticket volume increased by 200%，The first May Day Golden Week after SARS，Ctrip platform ticket volume increased by 500%。

December 9, 2003，Ctrip successfully landed on Nasdaq，Set a record for the highest first-time gain in the Nasdaq IPO within 3 years，And become the most popular since the dot-com bubble burst，The first Chinese company to be listed in the United States。

This past event，became a motivation story that Ctrip told many times later。Now，Facing a sudden crisis，Can Ctrip usher in the spring 17 years ago？

In fact，17 years passed，The environment of the tourism industry、structure、There have been great changes in the industrial chain and other aspects - China's GDP was only 13 trillion yuan during SARS，Today it is 100 trillion yuan。And the huge difference in basis，It also means that the total impact 188bet sports betting app download and impact of the epidemic is much greater than that of the year。

"Although different from SARS，It is difficult to judge the next situation of COVID-19 at the moment，But as long as the decision is in place，If you respond appropriately, you can solve it properly，The trauma caused by the epidemic to society can be healed with time。”Ctrip told Zinc Scale，"It won't be long，Spring is coming soon。”

Liang Jianzhang is also relatively optimistic，“Because China’s tourism industry has entered a relatively mature stage of industrial development，China has the largest customer base in the world，Travel has become a rigid demand for the general public，The moment is only temporarily suppressed。So we are constantly making plans and preparations for the recovery of the industry。”

For the next work，Sun Jie, CEO of Ctrip Group, said the same thing recently，To the next stage，How to ensure the stability of the team，The relative stability of the company’s financial status will be a key priority，“In addition, it also includes industry mutual assistance，That is, the implementation and promotion of the ‘Tongpao Plan’。”

Zhongyou Travel also discovered this when processing refund orders，The current demand does not disappear，It was postponed instead，“After patient explanation and communication from customer service，Many customers are willing to accept rescheduling，Because this should be the least costly solution，And everyone’s demand for travel will still exist after the epidemic is over。”

For those travel agencies，With the processing of canceled orders coming to an end，Guan Yue and Huang Yuexia’s mentality gradually improved。But they are all starting to realize，The biggest lesson from this time is that "eggs cannot be put in the same basket"，If the business is too single, it will inevitably encounter a crisis and cannot survive。For this reason，Many companies are now beginning to pursue diversified development。

Lantern Festival time，Guan Yue received a message from a colleague who has been in the industry for 20 years，This colleague who experienced the SARS epidemic encouraged him，"Be patient and wait，Stay with it，We can usher in real victory。”

Maybe，As people in the industry say，“Tourism is sensitive，Instead of fragile。”

*Source of this article: WeChat public account “Zinc Scale”(ID: znkedu)，Author: Li Lin，Original title：《With the arrival of the “black swan”, how will the tourism industry survive the cold winter?》.