This is the first May Day Golden Week since China officially implemented its annual three-golden-week holiday plan. It is also the first May Day Golden Week after China joined the WTO and was forced to further open up its tourism market in both directions.
Related practitioners in Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea have all felt the heat wave of money coming towards them.
Especially the Japanese tourism industry practitioners who have always looked at the consumption power of the Chinese through colored glasses in the past few years are most shocked: When did it start? A few years ago, it seems that the consumption power of the Chinese has not been so exaggerated. Now,
It actually accounts for close to 10% of the consumption share in the Japanese tourism market!
No wonder they are shocked, because if we go back five years, the spending power of Chinese tourists will not even account for 2% of Japan's overseas tourism market. Five years later, it will be about 8%. Isn't that a huge increase?
Of course, if they can open up a God's perspective, they will be pleasantly surprised to find that in five years, this proportion may reach 15%, and in more than ten years, it may be close to one-third (only in 2017 did Chinese tourists to Japan
More than Korean tourists visiting Japan, reaching the largest number)
At this point, this is not worth making a fuss about.
Gu Kun is a person who has opened his eyes, so he will not have any surprises or surprises about the new surge in the tourism market in Lanfang during the May Day Golden Week - he should have expected it a long time ago, there is no surprise.
The only thing that slightly surprised him was that he still hadn't waited for the zero- or low-cost tour groups during the Golden Week - in fact, his online informants had been following those online booking and group companies.
As for marketing trends, we also know that those online ticket booking companies started recruiting low- or even zero-fee tours more than half a month ago.
However, those few zero-fee tours that tested the waters were short-lived during the ten days in late April, and then faded away. During the May Day holiday, all the tourists who came to Lanfang were full-price tours.
The price was so high that Gu Kun didn't have any clue about it.
Gu Kun thought for a while, and then he felt relieved: Internet business companies like to fight price wars and attract customers at the lowest price. This is inevitable, but they are not so cheap as to go out of their way to lose money even if they have money.
During the May Day Golden Week, there are so many Chinese people on holiday, and there are so many people with free time and money. The regular price is fully booked, so how can it be possible to get a half-price or even zero-price tour?
Low prices only appear in the off-season, not in the peak season.
"It's true that I'm obsessed with it, and I'm anxious to catch them. Well, there's none at the moment, so I'll just let them tolerate it for a while." When he figured it out, Gu Kun didn't forget to laugh at himself.
Anyway, the full-price group tour has not harmed the competitiveness of Lanfang’s tourism market, so why should he be anxious?
…
On May 11th, the first weekend after the end of the Golden Week, with the end of the tourist season, half-price tours finally began to appear again, and zero-fee tours are probably not far away, and will definitely appear within ten days and a half.
Gu Kun was very well informed and he grasped the situation immediately.
Along with the information came Ma Feng himself, who was invested by him. These days, Ma Feng is also responsible for providing information for Gu Kun's related layout. This time, he had a premonition that the matter might be a big deal, so he came to report it in person.
, in addition to reporting, he also wanted to give some advice to Gu Kun.
When they met, they reported first. After some pleasantries, Ma Feng said sincerely:
"Boss Gu, the situation is very clear now, and there is no shortage of evidence. I believe that when they can't hold back the cost and there are more tour groups and the supply of genuine goods is insufficient, they will become more and more emboldened to sell fakes.
However, I don’t know how harshly you plan to deal with Xiao Yang and his company. Is there no room for mediation in this matter? Of course I support you, and I will never reveal any of your decisions and ideas. But I
I'm afraid that if you do it too hard, it will affect your reputation in the Chinese Internet entrepreneurial circle in the future.
After all, I know the cause and effect of this matter clearly. Boss Shen originally wanted to survive the cold winter and asked you to cooperate. He wanted to recommend a regular Lanfang tour group for cooperation, but you rejected his invitation. Then Boss Shen has the right to speak in the company.
After feeling depressed for a while, it was his co-founder's turn to attract outside investment to squeeze him out, who was uncooperative.
If you eliminate this kind of thing, I am afraid that more promising start-up companies will not dare to take your money in the future, and they will no longer prioritize looking for you when they need investors. Everyone is really in danger.
Is it a good deal?”
Gu Kun didn't appreciate this last persuasion: "Haha, you should know how much damage cheap or even zero-cost tours can do to a high-end luxury travel market. He wants to destroy my sign, but he won't let me
Counterattack? Do the Diba people have a cheap group? Brother Ma, do you think this matter can be solved?"
Ma Feng thought for a while: "What do you think of this? As long as you authorize me, I will save my face and tell Xiao Yang to invite Boss Shen back. When the time comes, you will pay to bring Diba to Biancheng Travel.
Then squeeze out or dilute their shares - I know that tens of millions of dollars is nothing to you - and then you can regain control of them. By then, they will not be allowed to be a Lanfang low-cost group. It is not your fault.
What’s the matter of words? Isn’t it better to use it for one’s own purposes than to destroy it?”
"This is impossible. When I was invited to join, I wouldn't go to a company that offered free services with no technical content. Now, wouldn't it be possible for them to force me to join? The strengths and weaknesses are so obvious that no one can force me." Gu
Kun was very determined.
Ma Feng: "Freedom is not a big sin. The original spirit of the Internet is resource sharing. We provide e-commerce platform information services online. Isn't it free? My brother Xiao Ma makes instant messaging and chat tools. Isn't it also free? Talented Li does it.
Search engines are also free, so shouldn’t they be repaid from advertising fees?
Although Xiao Yang's move was a bit of a loss, using compulsory shopping in exchange for covering the cost of group fees, it is still considered a business model after all, and the accounts can be calculated. In the eyes of other peers, it is the same. You have to force all free companies to death.
I'm afraid that other free companies will attack you in the future when they become bigger - of course, I know that you won't be afraid of those small fish and shrimps attacking you in ten or eight years."
Hearing this, Gu Kun finally realized Ma Feng's worries, or the ambiguity between the two.
Gu Kun couldn't help but chuckle: "That's right. Although it didn't hit the mark, it was enough to encourage me to see where you misunderstood. This is a good thing. People who know me so well will misunderstand like this. It can be seen that
Most Internet practitioners in China who don’t know me well will also misunderstand me.
That's just right. I'm going to talk to you today, but you should keep it in your heart. One day, this matter will be over, and you and your colleagues and friends in the circle will drink, chat and brag, or chat and spank.
Help me analyze and defend a few words, and I will accept you as a favor."
Ma Feng also became slightly more serious: "Respectfully, I have misunderstood your principles?"
Gu Kun: "Of course you misunderstood, because I have never hated all cheap and free service providers just because I run a luxury and high-end business. These are two different things.
I want to kill the man surnamed Yang, not because of the free thing itself, but because of how he achieved it. Therefore, when this matter is over in the future, you must make it clear to your colleagues when you have the opportunity to avoid hurting innocent people and avoiding innocent people.
Everyone is in danger and wary of me."
Ma Feng: "I would like to hear the details."
Gu Kun held out two fingers and argued: "The spirit of the Internet is sharing. Early practitioners thought that resource sharing and free resources were cool things. I don't object to this. And many businesses on the Internet are not
When asking consumers who charge money, we have to distinguish why they don't charge money.
The first is to rely on technical advantages, such as making search engines. In the future, there may be anti-virus software companies, which can directly use the software for free, but they rely on technology to push advertisements to repay the cost. This is a mature business model. Your push
The technology is precise, the algorithm is sophisticated, and if you can get your money back, I will trust you.
The second type is more despicable. It relies on piracy. There are many such industries. Strictly speaking, it is blood-sucking and illegal. It is just that the country is tolerant and mainly supports the early Internet industry.
The last one is completely unfair competition, which means that they rely on subsidies or other methods similar to dumping price wars to pretend that they can temporarily squeeze out competitors through price wars, but in fact it is just a capital operation.
Create a temporary false high in market value and make money in the stock market.
I believe you also understand your country's antitrust law and anti-unfair competition law, and know that "below-cost dumping", especially "for the purpose of eliminating competition," is illegal.
In other words, I don’t just kill free dogs when I encounter them. I want to see if you rely on technological progress to achieve a sharp reduction in costs. In the future, you don’t need subsidies, burn money, or steal and replace others. You can really continue to be free and have a chance of success.
I admire your business model and regard him as a great philanthropist.
However, if someone is just creating a temporary illusion whether it is a free price war or a subsidy to burn money, then there is nothing to say. This must be... Is there anything wrong with me punishing him?"
For example, in later generations, whether it’s those taxi rides, other takeout group purchases, or selling coffee, price wars are normal, but Gu Kun’s criterion for judging whether the other party is a despicable capital operation is:
Don’t you want it to be free? Do you think it will be free forever?
If you can do the same as Zhou Hongyi's anti-virus software and keep it free forever, then it is a serious and legitimate business. It means that "free is not lower than the operator's cost price". It means that people have high technical level and use technology to reduce costs.
It has been reduced to the point that the cost of use is almost zero, and it can still be free no matter how many people use it.
But just giving it free for a few months to gain false market share is actually burning money and you won’t be able to afford it for free, which means it’s a complete illegal capital traitor.
Just like taxi subsidies, if an entrepreneur has the ability to come up with a new low-level energy technology title that makes the energy consumption of the car almost free, and then come up with a technology title for autonomous driving technology, so that the driver's manpower
The cost has been reduced to almost zero, and the profession of driver has been eliminated. So if you talk about taking a car for free, Gu Kun absolutely admires it.
If you don’t make technological progress, you’re just burning money.
Scientist, you come for free, Gu Kun is convinced, let Gu Kun be the real scientist. The scientist kneels down and acts like a dog, Gu Kun has no objection, this world should let the real scientists be superior to others.
But the capital bitches don’t deserve the treatment that only scientists can enjoy. For those bitches who have no technology and rely on capital subsidies, Gu Kun will definitely trample every one to death.