Abstract: As a new industry, travel agency industry has some abnormal phenomena in marketing competition due to its own characteristics and immature internal mechanism, the most prominent of which is price reduction competition. On the basis of analyzing the causes and harms of price reduction competition, this paper puts forward a series of non-price competition strategies.
[Keywords:] travel agency industry; Price reduction competition; Non-price competition
In the fierce market competition, marketing competition is a necessary means for enterprises to win market competition. Competition in marketing is essentially a conflict between enterprises in order to obtain more economic benefits, which is based on products and aims at winning customers. This kind of conflict is often manifested in the price of goods and has become an important means of market competition. In order to gain more market share, enterprises often conduct marketing competition around price. The so-called price reduction competition refers to the competition in which enterprises simply reduce prices and obtain profits in order to improve the trading conditions of products and increase the sales volume of products.
I. Price reduction competition in the travel agency industry in recent years
As a new industry, the travel agency industry in China has developed from scratch, from small to large, and has begun to take shape. Before 1978, there were only two travel agencies in China, China International Travel Service and China Travel Service, which were mainly political receptions, which were not enough to constitute an industry and did not have an economic nature. 1980, China Youth Travel Service was established, which started the monopoly of China Travel Service. 1984, the National Tourism Administration delegated the right of tourism outreach. 1988, the number of travel agencies in China soared to 1573, completely breaking the monopoly of the industry. Since then, the attractive development prospects of the travel agency industry are being recognized by more and more people. Due to the low entry threshold of travel agencies, more importantly, before the new Regulations on the Administration of Travel Agencies 1996 was issued, the number of travel agencies was less than 5,000, which was not particularly large. The market is in short supply, the competition is not too fierce, and the tourism laws and regulations are not perfect. Therefore, the profit rate of travel agencies is relatively high, and it has become a well-known "lucrative" industry. Attracted by its high profits, a wave of "all-private travel agencies" has been set off all over the country, and travel agencies have become investment hotspots in various industries.
In recent years, the number of travel agencies has been increasing, and the competition in the tourism market has become increasingly fierce. In order to compete for market share, price reduction is regarded as the main or even the only means to compete for customers. Some travel agencies attract tourists at low prices and attack competitors, while competitors retaliate at lower prices, resulting in lower and lower prices of travel agency products in the tourism market, which leads to misunderstanding of price reduction competition among travel agencies and a vicious circle of disorderly competition in the travel agency industry. Whether it is domestic tourism or international tourism, the phenomenon of price reduction competition is very common, and even "zero tour fee" and "negative tour fee" have appeared. In the winter of 2002, there was a strong "Hainan Double Flying" price reduction wind in Shanghai tourism market. Since mid-February, 1600 yuan, 1500 yuan and 1400 yuan have even fallen below the bottom line recognized by the industry 1300 yuan. You know, the one-way ticket to Hainan is 1520 yuan, which was later adjusted, but it also hovered between 1360 ~ 1400 yuan. The reason for this price war is the sharp drop in the number of tourists in the off-season. In order to maintain market share, airlines have increased their marketing efforts. Some powerful travel agencies in Shanghai used the special policy of "chartered flight" to win air tickets at the lowest "chartered flight price" and reached agreements with hotels, motorcades, scenic spots and travel agencies in Hainan, which led to the unprecedented "low price" war and Hainan tourism boom. Since 2006, the phenomenon of price reduction competition still occurs from time to time. At the beginning of May, an international travel agency in Wuhan launched four two-way low-cost tours in one breath, which attracted people to flock to it and left other travel agencies in the cold for a while. In order to regain the lost market, several major domestic airlines quickly formed an "alliance" with other outbound agencies in Wuhan. With the support of several major airlines, many travel agencies in Jiangcheng quickly launched related routes at lower prices, which opened the price war in Wuhan tourism market. At the beginning of June, the travel agency once again issued a price reduction card-the double flight routes in Guilin, Zhangjiajie and East China dropped more than those in 400 yuan, and the double flight routes in Shenyang and Dalian dropped by 1000 yuan. In this regard, other outbound travel agencies in Hubei Province once again lowered the quotations of several tourist routes to less than a dozen yuan to several hundred yuan.
The profit margin of travel agencies is getting lower and lower in the whirlpool of price reduction competition. According to statistics, in 2000, the average profit rate of travel agencies in China was less than 3%, but in 2002, the whole industry suffered losses. Until now, the travel agency industry is still a "meager profit" industry.
Second, the reasons for price competition in the travel agency industry
1. The supply of travel agency products exceeds demand. There are more than 1.3 million travel agencies in China. Although there are not many travel agencies per capita, there is not much consumer demand. Travel agencies are mainly concentrated in economically developed coastal areas, and their regional distribution is extremely uneven. Therefore, compared with the tourism market, the number of travel agencies is still high. This is directly related to the cost of the travel agency industry. The fixed cost of travel agencies is relatively low. It's not expensive to rent a facade with fax and telephone and hire a few employees. As the main cost, variable cost is directly proportional to the business volume. Of course, when the business volume is large, you can make a sum of money, and the business downturn can barely support it. This makes many travel agencies with weak strength just maintain bleak operations and lose their due strength in market rules. Because of this, the oversupply of products is the direct cause of price reduction competition.
2. The seasonality and non-storability of travel agency products. Because the sales of travel agency products are obviously divided into off-season and peak season, and because travel agency products mainly meet the needs of customers through services, travel agency products that combine tourism resources, facilities and services can exist only when tourists buy and consume, that is, they cannot be stored, that is, it is now or never. As a result, the opportunity came, and everyone flocked to it. Almost all travel agencies made various price reduction reactions, and this reaction far exceeded the scope of normal seasonal discounts, which was the fuse of price reduction competition.
3. Duplicate products of travel agencies. Many domestic travel agencies do not develop products vigorously enough and lack high-quality products. The vast majority of products are from commodities, and there are only a few well-known tourist routes, and everyone is selling them. This is mainly because travel agency products lack access mechanisms such as trademark rights and patent rights. A travel agency developed a marketable product, which immediately caused many small and medium-sized travel agencies to rush headlong into action and follow suit. This is the fundamental reason for price reduction competition.
4. The quality and level of travel agency managers are low. At present, some managers of many small and medium-sized travel agencies, especially middle-level management cadres, don't have a deep understanding of the connotation of marketing competition in the market economy, can't master high-level competition strategies, and can only adopt simple price reduction competition strategies.
5. The scale has begun to take shape and the order is chaotic. After years of efforts, the scale of travel agency industry management has been initially established. However, due to the gap between China and developed countries in macro-control, rules and regulations, penalties and other aspects, the market order of China travel agencies is still in a chaotic stage. This is the external cause of price reduction competition, and it is also a category beyond the power of travel agencies.
Third, the negative impact of price reduction competition on the travel agency industry
In a sense, price reduction competition is conducive to purifying the current situation that the travel agency market is large, small, scattered, chaotic and weak, and creating a number of large enterprises. This kind of price reduction competition can also bring some benefits to tourists.
However, as an independent accounting and self-financing economic entity, travel agencies can't really realize "zero tour fee". At the same time, in order to maintain profits, we can only adopt the method of "reducing prices first and then reducing services", that is, lowering catering standards, reducing tourist attractions, compressing travel time and increasing shopping times. Or use various kickbacks and headcount fees as profit margins, and even some cooperatives increase their income by deducting travel insurance premiums. Some powerful travel agencies can still make a certain profit in chartered flight, while small travel agencies can only focus on shopping. So go to three or four shopping spots a day, or add some scenic spots with high rebates. In order to increase kickbacks, tour guides and drivers spend the best time of the day on shopping spots and only take a look at the scenic spots, which seriously damages the interests of tourists, affects the overall reception quality of the tourism industry and greatly reduces the service. In order to reduce costs, some travel agencies employ temporary tour guides without basic salary, which makes it difficult to guarantee the cultural literacy of tour guides. Some tour guides have low quality and poor service awareness, which seriously affects the quality of service and is easy to cause complaints from guests. Why the complaints peak after the Golden Week has a lot to do with the behavior of travel agencies to cut prices first and then reduce services. The second method is to make a fuss about the price, such as using half-package price and small package price as all-package price to attract consumers. When consumers think that they have chosen a cheap route, they will pay twice and three times, and the final cost is far less "cheap" than originally thought. The disorderly price competition makes travel agencies stay at a low level of service and cannot meet people's high-level demand for holidays, adventures and other tourism. The result of price reduction competition will lead to people's distrust of tourism service enterprises, and meager profits will make travel agencies stay at the level of ensuring food and clothing forever. It is impossible to invest in training staff, develop new tourism products, improve the quality of tourism services, let alone retain high-quality talents, which will make travel agencies fall into a vicious circle. The disorderly price competition also makes the products of travel agencies unable to locate correctly. The price of some core tourism products is lower than its symbolic value, which will lead to a decline in sales and seriously affect the development of the travel agency industry. So, how can the travel agency industry develop healthily?
Fourthly, non-price competition is the development trend of modern travel agency marketing competition.
The so-called non-price competition refers to the competitive mode in which enterprises use marketing means other than price to distinguish their own products from competitive products and make them have different advantages to promote product sales.
Under the condition of modern market economy, non-price competition has gradually become the mainstream of marketing. In addition, from the market environment, the rapid economic development has continuously improved the consumption level and purchasing power, and buyers' concerns are not limited to commodity prices. It is no longer that the lower the price, the better the sales volume, but the better the products that can meet the specific market demand. With the development of science and technology, enterprises and consumers can more effectively distinguish competitive goods from their own products (such as quality, function, trademark, packaging, service, etc.). ). Generally speaking, the non-price competition strategy of travel agencies has the following aspects for reference:
1. Product differentiation strategy. At present, the products of China's travel agencies are relatively single, which has long formed a situation in which groups and all-inclusive sightseeing tours dominate the world. Travel agencies are crowded on the single-plank bridge of group sightseeing business to fight the price war, which has reached a dead end. However, it can be predicted that the proportion of sightseeing tourism will decrease, and the proportion of holiday tourism and characteristic tourism will increase. Even for sightseeing, semi-military and training-oriented tourism will be rejected, and the trend of pursuing comfort and culture will become more and more prominent. In order to develop travel agencies, we must intensify innovation, speed up the development of tourism products with broad market prospects, such as leisure and holiday tourism, business tourism, shopping tourism, agricultural tourism, study tourism and adventure tourism, and constantly introduce new products. In the competition, we don't squeeze the wooden bridge with our peers, but find another way to win by difference.
2. Personalized service strategy. Tourists want personalized, characteristic and visualized services when traveling. Different guests at the same time and place have different service needs, just like the guests in a restaurant have their own preferences for background music; At different times and places, the service needs of the same guest are different. For example, tourists need novel and exciting activities during the day and a comfortable and quiet environment at night. The more high-end travel agencies, the more personalized services are classified as standardized content. While providing personalized services to customers, travel agencies should make use of information advantages to provide convenience for tourists, so that tourists can quickly understand the normal competitive price and the company's past reputation, so that it is difficult for companies that compete abnormally at abnormal prices to hide the truth.
3. Network marketing strategy. "Enterprises that can't access the Internet will face the danger of bankruptcy", which is a warning issued by British Prime Minister Tony Blair during his visit to Cambridge technology enterprises. Perhaps these words seem alarmist now, but they will become an indisputable fact in the 2 1 century based on information technology. Especially in the travel agency industry, for this long-distance, multi-batch small transaction, it needs the advantages of fast speed, high accuracy and low operating cost of e-commerce. At present, many domestic travel agencies still insist on doing business by one fax and two telephones, and are still turning over business advertisements and faxing quotations. Their management has not fully realized the great influence of the network on travel agencies, so they have not spent too much energy on network construction. In the new century, China tourism market needs travel agencies to meet the needs of tourists from China and even the world efficiently and accurately. Travel agencies can provide consultation, ticket sales, group tours, outings and other services for tourists scattered thousands of miles away in a few minutes. Without computers, the operation of travel agencies will become empty talk. The computerization and networking of travel agency management mode have been put on the important agenda. Whether it is eating, living, traveling, shopping or entertainment, whether it is a large, medium or small travel agency or even a small sales organization with two or three people, computerization and networking must be regarded as an urgent infrastructure construction. If the network marketing strategy is applied to the travel agency industry, it will certainly save promotion expenses, reduce sales agents, expand market coverage, enhance brand depth and influence, improve work efficiency and expand profit space.
In recent years, the domestic tourism performance of Shanghai Chunqiu International Travel Service has ranked first among domestic counterparts for four consecutive years, which is inseparable from the establishment of a computer network covering the whole country. So far, Spring and Autumn International Travel Service has been networked and jointly operated in more than 40 cities across the country, of which more than 20 cities have property rights. The future travel agencies in China will develop faster with the help of Internet technology.
4. Brand marketing strategy. After years of development, a number of well-known travel agencies have emerged in the travel agency industry in China, such as China Travel Agency, China Travel Agency, China Youth Travel Agency, Chunqiu Travel Agency and Kang Hui Travel Agency. However, compared with American Express, Japan Communications Association, Thomas Cook and other internationally renowned travel agencies, there are still obvious gaps. In the case of oversupply, the market is a buyer's market, and customers are in an active position and have more choices. When the differences between products are getting smaller and smaller, whether customers buy a certain commodity depends on the degree of trust of customers in this commodity. It is important that customers have brand "preference" psychology, that is, brand loyalty. Under the new situation, the intensity and complexity of competition are getting higher and higher, and world-famous travel agencies will flood into China one after another, which poses a great threat to China's travel agency industry and also poses new challenges. Brand is a kind of resource. Whoever takes the lead will be able to occupy and use this resource, thus occupying the market.
5. Relationship marketing strategy. The operation of travel agencies has obvious "relationship characteristics". The introduction of relationship marketing strategy will make travel agencies pay attention to contact and contact with relevant parties, and devote themselves to the continuous improvement of corporate image for a long time, and introduce CS (Customer Satisfaction) on the basis of CI (Corporate Image Recognition). Guang Zhi Tour, a famous international travel agency in Guangzhou, took the lead in introducing CI to national travel agencies in May, 1994. Together with CS, taking customer satisfaction as the criterion, we effectively improved various rules and regulations, unified and standardized management, paid close attention to the key link of tourism services-tour guides, and provided quality services to customers, which was a great success and was called "Guang Zhi Tour" effect by the media. In September, 1998, "Guang Zhi Tour" further organized customers and established "Guang Zhi Tour Club for the Elderly". In less than two years, because of its excellent tourist routes and thoughtful service, it has been quickly recognized by the majority of elderly comrades, and the number of club members has been increasing, which has made the travel agency step into the road to success. The National Tourism Administration pointed out that "it is necessary to carry out preferential price promotion activities to activate the tourism market, but it must be of high quality and good price, and the quality and price are consistent, and malicious price reduction below the cost price cannot be engaged. All kinds of associations should organize key enterprises such as travel agencies, restaurants and scenic spots to agree and abide by reasonable market prices, form an overall promotion, make it public, and accept the supervision of public opinion and moral evaluation departments. " In a word, non-price competition has played a very prominent role in the competition of modern travel agencies. We must get rid of the dilemma of price reduction competition, establish and improve the market mechanism on the basis of improving the competitive experience of marketers, take advantage of non-price competition, grasp the development trend of modern travel agency marketing competition, and formulate non-price competition strategies for travel agencies to ensure the healthy and smooth development of China's travel agency industry in the fierce market competition.
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