The price war on visa services has reached its climax.
Online travel industry boss Ctrip and get Alibaba investment of the Bai Cheng yesterday also announced that the future visa will no longer charge any service charges, only to pay to the consular party's hard "consular fees." The previously lucrative market for visa services will be unprofitable, and a large number of small and medium visa services will be expected to disappear from the market.
The price war was lifted by Ctrip. For a long time, agent visa by travel agencies and travel agents to the price of packaging "fuzzy treatment", resulting in its arbitrary fare increase, the same country different travel agents visa prices may be hundreds of yuan difference. Last month, Ctrip shouted "full transparent visa New Deal", the price of all the visa products in accordance with the "Consular Price + service charge" of the full transparent form of the announcement, and the service charge standard set to 0-150 yuan.
Shortly thereafter, another Ota Bai Travel Network also announced the launch of the "refused to sign the entire paragraph" service, that is, through the Bai-Cheng Travel network for outbound travel visas, such as the encounter to the consular side of the refusal to sign, Bai will be refunded, including consular fees and service costs of two of all the money In accordance with the practice of embassies and consulates in different countries, the visa application fee paid in advance by Citizens for visa processing is non-refundable. In other words, once the refusal to sign, Bai Cheng will not only not make money, but also to compensate consumers from the pay of the consular side of the "consular fees."
Ctrip, as the leader of the online tourism industry, has been adhering to the "Let me less money, so that you do not make money," the guiding ideology, in all areas of the tourism industry set off price war, the competition will be different, the former hotel reservations in the field of Art Dragon, after the same scenic area tickets, is now the field of visa services Becheng.
Located as an outbound travel service provider of the Becheng Travel Network, the visa agent has been its core business, in this price war, the core business profits are abandoned, Bai Cheng CEO Zengsong interviewed said that the company focused on outbound travel business, through the visa business to make money is never an end. It is understood that, in addition to visa services, Becheng other business including outbound travel free line, with group tour, cruise, international hotel and international car rental.
Becheng can have emboldened and ctrip a higher level, the reason is that this March just received 20 million U.S. dollars financing, investors for Alibaba and broadband capital.
Ctrip and Becheng Why and visa used not to go, because outbound travel more and more users, and visa equivalent to a traffic entrance. Zengsong in an interview earlier this year, said: "To find a matching outbound travel crowd, a single will cost 1000 yuan, very high costs, especially now from open traffic, will be higher." So for the general enterprise, to get 10,000 orders to spend 10 million, now a few enterprises can afford such money? Bai Cheng no flow and no money, how to do? We choose to start with the visa, the visa can bring the fastest accumulation of terminal consumption data. ”