More and more Chinese travelers now use online booking apps to customize their plans. (Photo provided to China Daily)
To customize tours as per travelers' needs and preferences, OTAs need skilled professionals with a penchant for creativity or imagination, comprehensive knowledge of visit-worthy places, and good interpersonal vibe, besides traits like patience, customer service outlook, and ability to read, write and speak multiple languages well.
Wang of Frost &Sullivan said tourism professionals also need to provide guidance proactively, help with bookings, and deal with sudden changes in travel plans or itineraries－all with an intent to create rich tourist experiences, complete with local lifestyle events.
"Travel customizers need to master professional knowledge, foreign language skills and good service literacy. At this stage, professionals with comprehensive abilities are quite scarce in the sector," he said.
OTAs also lack a mature supervision mechanism. The government has yet to formulate corresponding laws and regulations for the customized tourism sector, which may result in varied service quality, Frost &Sullivan said.
To cater to the demand for tailored trips from Chinese consumers, Ctrip last year introduced overseas chartered car packages. These included specially designed tailored tours for travelers, especially for young parents with small kids.
Besides, all of the chartered cars are aged between 3 and 5 and free of mechanical problems, and are equipped with safety seats for babies. "Compared with consumers who are more price-sensitive, families who travel with children usually consider more about safety and comfort," said An Jing, director of overseas chartered cars services at Ctrip.
"The overseas chartered car market is increasingly favored by Chinese travelers, especially by those traveling with children. We will introduce more tailored services to meet more diversified demand from the market. Good-quality services that go beyond their expectations－they are the key to break through barriers in the fiercely competitive market," she said.
Among the respondents that Ctrip surveyed, more than 80 percent of parents said as long as their children can have pleasant trips, they would not worry too much about prices.
Besides, 65 percent of respondents said chartered car services can help solve a lot of complicated transportation problems in foreign countries, and they are willing to try them.
Most Chinese families who travel with kids will opt for Japan and Southeast Asian countries as their top destinations, given their proximity, relatively easier visa policies and similar cultures with China, Ctrip found.
In June, Ctrip found the number of bookings for its chartered car services surged three times year-on-year. It, however, did not disclose specific figures. Reservations that are related to family trips with children accounted for nearly 40 percent, Ctrip said.
In addition, Ctrip found that last year, among Chinese tourists who took first-class and business-class flights, consumers who were born in the 1980s and 1990s together accounted for 42 percent of the total.
Particularly, the number of passengers who were born after 2010 and took premium cabin seats surged over 80 percent, indicating that Chinese parents are more willing to spend money for better flying experience of their children, Ctrip said.
