On January 16, students studied at Mantang Hakka Dawei in Mantang Village, Aizi Town, Shixing County, Shaoguan. Xinhua News Agency issued
The visual arts kids research team visited Tsinghua University. Picture provided by the interviewee
On January 30, a group of Guangdong "little lychees" went to the cranberry planting base in Fuyuan City, Heilongjiang Province for a research trip. Xinhua News Agency published
In the past few years since the "double reduction" policy was implemented, study tours have become an indispensable part of China's primary and secondary education system. Although the industry is still in its initial stage of development, with the gradual implementation of relevant policies in various places, China's study tourism industry will continue to maintain a strong momentum of development. With the coming of summer vacation, study becomes more and more intense. Currently, what are the problems in the study market and products? How does the industry still need to work hard to improve? Nandu reporters interviewed a number of senior professionals on the issue of study.
a Practical sample of Guangzhou research studies
Zeng Jianyun, secretary-general of the Guangzhou Research Studies Practice Association, elaborated on the current appearance of the Guangzhou research studies market for Nandu reporters: At present, the research study product market shows diversified characteristics, including science and engineering, and career enlightenment. Research projects related to labor education are very popular. At the same time, agricultural research products have attracted widespread attention with their unique charm.
When talking about the difference between study products and spring outings and autumn outings, Zeng Jianyun emphasized that study studies focus more on education and practice. It encourages students to go out of the classroom, make full use of high-quality social resources, combine theoretical knowledge with practice, and achieve interdisciplinary immersive learning.
Since 2021, the Guangzhou Education Bureau and the Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau have joined hands to select 116 study practice education bases and 30 Hong Kong and Macao youth study practice education bases, providing a wealth of study options for students. In August 2022, Guangzhou launched the "2022 Guangzhou Research Season" themed activity and launched 70 sets of high-quality research courses covering ten major fields such as labor experience, technological manufacturing, and physical geography.
In June 2023, the Guangzhou Municipal Education Bureau and the Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau once again joined forces to hold a series of themed activities "Opening up the world of research and studying in Guangzhou". The activities include "Searching for the Dragon", "Guangzhou and the Maritime Silk Road - A Journey to Search for Incense", "Archaeological Demystification of the Three CCP Congresses", "Ordering Tea in the Song Dynasty", "Being a Florist", "Watching Herons in the Mangrove" and "Chasing Dreams" Demonstration courses that match the academic stage such as "Deep Blue" not only demonstrate the course design of "real study", but also demonstrate the professional connotation of tutor services.
Zeng Jianyun said that Guangzhou’s research career will enter a new stage. In the past, teaching materials were students’ world, but now, the world has become students’ teaching materials. Guangzhou will continue to promote the close cooperation model of "base + school" to jointly develop and implement a series of high-quality research courses. These carefully designed research courses will be featured in the "Opening up the world of research and studying in Guangzhou" project, providing students with a learning experience of learning in practice and growing in experience.
b This year’s study is very different
Xie Lianzhe, head of the marketing department of Guangdong Youth Travel Tourism, analyzed that the biggest difference between this year’s study products and previous years mainly reflects the “seven modernizations”: market segmentation: study products are segmented according to different interests and age groups. Meet specific needs; technology integration: some research products have begun to improve interactivity and immersion through technologies such as AR and VR; practical experience: strengthen students' practical operations and deepen knowledge understanding through field experience; environmental education: increasingly More and more study products integrate environmental protection concepts into study projects, emphasizing the educational significance of sustainable development; cross-disciplinary: study products focus on combining multi-disciplinary content to provide a comprehensive learning experience; service customization: providing personalized and customized Study tour services meet the individual needs of students from different schools; quality upgrading: through the training of study instructors, we focus on improving the service quality of study tour products and enhancing market competitiveness.
Zeng Linghua, general manager of Guangdong Jingmei Tourism Planning and Marketing Agency, who has been engaged in research work for many years, analyzed that this year’s research products are obviously much richer than in previous years. In the past, they were mainly traditional scenic spots, museums, science and technology museums, and patriotic education bases. , with richer themes and more products. Most of the new additions are the four major sections of traditional culture, labor practice education, agricultural farming experience, and industrial factories and mines. Many companies have also changed their original development ideas and industrial layout, implemented multi-industry integration, cross-border development, and found ways to get involved in research and study to expand their business in this sector.
Nandu reporters also observed that the study products on the market this year have a wider audience, and the study subjects are younger. In January 2024, 11 "little sugar oranges" from Guangxi went to Northeast China to study and went viral on the Internet. Subsequently, it triggered a wave of cute children from the north and the south exchanging studies with each other. The “younger age” of participation in research and study experience is becoming increasingly apparent.
In addition, in addition to "young people", the subjects participating in the study also include professionals who fit the theme, such as the study of middle school geography teachers, the first geography practical training class and other topics. This year, the "Geography (China) Study Series Products" jointly launched by Guangdong Youth Hostel, New Ant Group and other units have study courses with "continuing education" content suitable for geography teachers, including the "Chinese Edition" in the intersection area of Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia. The "Secret Realm Sarawusu" research product was held around the Sarawusu Valley, the birthplace of ancient Chinese humans, known as the "Grand Canyon of the Colorado".
He Meiyan, the founder of Visual Arts Space and Visual Arts Kids, analyzed in an interview with a reporter from Nandu that cultural and museum studies are still a hot topic. "Visual Arts Kids has been doing the museum study route for eight years, allowing students to learn history at the historical site." She introduced , "Grabbing for a museum ticket is like grabbing a train ticket. Children's learning is really a small cost and a big gain. After leaving the classroom, the museum has become a place where parents' eyes shine."
c Studying "Chaos" Congsheng
Zeng Linghua told Nandu Reporter: Since the rapid development of Yanxue in 2018, it reached its peak last year. Now, not only tourist attractions, but also other industries, including industrial factories and mines, are "grabbing" the resources and market of Yanxue. . However, so far, study products are not completely free and market-oriented products. The schools and students who provide resources are “controlled” by a small number of people. Even large travel agencies and brand travel agencies in the region cannot obtain so many “resources”. ". Therefore, it is not travel agencies that have the largest number of tour groups at present, but some small institutions with education consulting brands and some small and medium-sized travel agencies that have not been registered for a long time. If large travel agencies want to do research, they can only act as "second-rate dealers". They get customers from these agencies and undertake group tours. When choosing scenic spots and bases for study, most of these institutions do not consider the course content, study topics, and the real purpose and significance of students' studies. Instead, they first consider the price and choose scenic spots and bases with lower prices, thereby achieving greater profits. . This will result in many excellent research resources, bases, and courses being unable to reach students.
Currently, the competition in the study market is fierce, base tour fees are low, bases and scenic spots have no “voice”, and tour fees are mostly intermediate costs. For example, Foshan used to have only a few dozen listed research bases and scenic spots, but now there are hundreds of them, and they are still growing. The increase in bases means that market competition is fierce and price wars are raging. Some are even as low as more than 20 yuan per student, and as high as no more than 60 yuan. The common price is between 40 and 50 yuan. Such a low price means that the base and scenic spots have basically no profits and cannot provide standard research services to students.
However, the price of student travel is basically more than 190 yuan, and the highest is more than 250 yuan. The cost of transportation bus, Chinese food, tour guide, insurance, etc. is 80 to 90 yuan. High-priced travel, low-priced base, where do the profits go? It’s all in the middlemen’s pockets.
d The industry still needs to work hard
Zeng Jianyun called on "research and study" to be related to many factors such as schools, students, parents, research and study bases, etc. Each party has its own values and positions, and each party has its own reasons, but all parties have Knowing that "research and study" is a good thing and imperative, to do a good job in "research and study" requires the concerted efforts of many parties.
Zeng Linghua said that in the future, the trend of the study market will gradually change the current situation of uneven quality, study bases and venues everywhere, and market chaos. It will upgrade to standardized management, professional course instructors, and itinerary courses to achieve true research goals and objectives.
He Meiyan analyzed that because the market is huge, not only traditional education and tourism practitioners are actively entering the study market, but many people from other industries have also taken a fancy to the potential of the study market and have joined it. This has made the competition in the research market increasingly fierce, but at the same time the quality varies. There are problems such as wandering but not learning, inconsistency between quality and price, and lack of safety. Since the market entry threshold is relatively low, some companies may adopt a low-price competition strategy. In fact, if everyone in the entire industry is pricing in, it will lead to The quality of products and services declines, harming the interests of the audience. In addition, the rapid development of the research market has also attracted a large influx of capital, which may lead to some bubbles in the market.
Special feature interview: Nandu reporter Xiao Yang
