Chapter 889: Hong Kong Side Story 4: Trip.com, Domestic Tour Group Observations

Also in 2000.

In an office of more than 100 square meters in the Astronomical Building in Xujiahui, Shanghai.

(Image: Old building picture)

At this time,

The four giants of Trip. com... that is, the founders known as the "Four Gentlemen" in later generations, were holding a meeting.

At this time,

The four people sat around together, with wrinkled financial statements spread out on the table.

Boss Liang, 31 years old this year, could be said to be in the prime of his life, graduated from the Fudan University gifted class, a Ph. D. from Stanford University, and had served as the China Consulting Director at Oracle; at this moment, he was frowning:

"There is less than 500,000 left on the books; the 500,000 USD from the angel round can't last 3 months, our consumption is too big..."

Boss Ji, 34 years old, a Master of Mechanical Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, had worked at Oracle and Cisco.

He picked up a pen and listed the items.

"Office rent, server procurement, website development, outsourcing, and equipment costs are 70,000; three months of salary plus social security go out, market-side advertising on Sina and Sohu, plus offline promotion..."

"And the travel and business expenses for negotiating cooperation with more than 200 hotels..."

Boss Fan, 38 years old, had served as the General Manager of Shanghai Xinya International Travel Agency, familiar with tourism industry resources.

He didn't want to join at first.

But he couldn't resist the constant wooing of the other three founders, and finally joined.

His joining, familiar with tourism resources, gave Trip. com wings.

"The website has been online for three months, with a cumulative total of more than 2,000 orders, and hotel cooperation covers 12 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen..."

"Goldman Sachs and SoftBank China have both expressed interest in the online tourism track and are willing to look at our project."

"But the conditions are not loose; Goldman Sachs raised two requirements: one is to send a CFO to station here to supervise the use of funds; the second is to require the order growth rate for the next three years to be no less than 300% annually, and if it's not reached, our shares will be diluted. SoftBank China is more direct, opening their mouths to ask for 35% of the equity, and also requiring priority liquidation rights; if the company's subsequent financing valuation drops, they can take back the principal and interest first."

"Too harsh! If 35% of the equity is taken out, our founding team's right to speak will be gone, and Goldman Sachs' performance bet is putting us on the fire to roast."

"We are still polishing the model, how can we guarantee a three-year growth rate? These conditions simply cannot be agreed to."

Boss Liang tapped his fingers on the table, and after a moment of silence, said: "We can't hang ourselves on one tree. Besides Goldman Sachs and SoftBank, are there any other paths?"

Boss Shen's eyes lit up: "By the way, last year Ali and Penguin both received investment from the Five-Star Group in Hong Kong. Mr. Guan, the boss of Five-Star Group, has strong strength, not only has financial strength but can also connect to industrial resources in Hong Kong and the mainland. When they invested in Ali and Penguin, it was rumored that they didn't mention so many harsh conditions."

"Five-Star Group?" Boss Liang got some spirit, "That's right, if they can invest in us, not only can it solve the money problem, but maybe it can also help us expand hotel resources in Hong Kong."

"There is one more point, Five-Star Group has a good reputation in the country, which might accelerate our development."

Boss Ji immediately echoed: "Then hurry up and try! Old Shen, don't you have friends in Hong Kong? Can you entrust him to deliver our business plan to the investment department of Five-Star Group?"

Boss Shen nodded: "I'll contact him tomorrow. However, we have to make the materials solid first, so that when we report, we can let Mr. Guan see our potential."

"Good!"

"Just like that!"

"We speed!"

Ling ling ling~~~~~

At this time, Lin Xiaru from Goldman Sachs called, asking about the investment.

Then Boss Liang said he wanted to slow down, he was going to Hong Kong.

Lin Xiaru: "???"

I %￥#%￥-&…*#￥!

Why is it always you!

……

The next day,

Boss Liang and the three arrived in Hong Kong.

Old Shen's connections in Hong Kong played a role, contacting Five-Star Group, and soon received a reply from Five-Star Group that Mr. Guan was willing to see them.

So, the three of them flew to Hong Kong with excited moods.

……

The third day,

Morning,

Central Plaza, top floor, the elevator door opened, Boss Liang, Boss Shen, and Boss Ji straightened their suits and walked out of the elevator.

Then Hong Sheng took them to Guan Zu's office.

Pushing open the office door,

Guan Zu's office was two hundred square meters, with a whole wall of floor-to-ceiling windows facing Victoria Harbour; under the blue sky and white clouds, ferries shuttled back and forth on the sea.

A ten-meter-long ecological fish tank was placed in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, with many colorful fish swimming.

One word!

This office made them envious to tears!

At this time, Guan Zu was in a black suit, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

For some reason, the moment the three saw Guan Zu, they felt very close and had a sense of trust.

"Welcome, the three of you, it's been a hard journey."

"Mr. Guan is too polite; being able to be received by you is our honor."

Boss Shen stepped forward to shake hands first, and Boss Liang and Boss Ji also exchanged pleasantries with Guan Zu in turn.

After the four sat down, the assistant brought freshly brewed Longjing tea, with tea fragrance curling up.

"Mr. Guan's office has a really wide view; looking at the scenery of Hong Kong here has a unique flavor."

"When this building was built, I booked the highest top floor; what I wanted was this feeling of a wide view."

Both sides exchanged pleasantries for a while,

It was probably introducing the resumes of the four giants of Trip. com.

The background of the founders was also something investors valued.

Coincidentally, the resumes of the four giants were very bright.

Guan Zu: "I know Mr. Liang is a Ph. D. from Stanford and has served as a consulting director at Oracle; how did you think of doing this field of online tourism?"

Boss Liang sat up straight and answered seriously: "Mr. Guan, when I was in the US, I discovered that online tourism booking was already very popular, but in China, it was basically the world of traditional travel agencies. With the development of the Internet, young people are becoming more and more accustomed to doing things online; there is a huge market gap here. What we want to do is to integrate hotels, air tickets, and tourism routes online, allowing users to handle all travel bookings without leaving home."

Boss Ji added: "Our website has been online for three months, with more than 200 cooperative hotels, covering 12 major cities, and a cumulative total of more than 600 orders..."

After introducing for about thirty minutes,

Guan Zu said noncommittally: "How much capital do you need now? How do you plan to use it?"

Boss Shen took over the conversation: "We plan to raise 4.5 million USD. The funds are mainly used in three parts: first, to expand the technical team and optimize website functions; second, to expand hotel and air ticket cooperation resources, increase cooperative hotels to more than 500, and open up air ticket booking channels in major cities across the country; third, to increase market promotion, invest in advertisements on mainstream media and Internet platforms, and enhance Trip. com's popularity..."

Flowing like a treasure, but in fact, the back was already soaked with sweat.

While listening, Guan Zu was thinking about another thing.

Actually, Guan Zu didn't value Trip. com very much.

But he changed an angle and thought of another thing————Hong Kong tourism!

The tourism industry had always been an economic point for Hong Kong.

And tourists coming to Hong Kong from the mainland were not many at present.

Then... could I invest in Trip. com and then let Trip. com drive mainland tourists to travel to Hong Kong?

When thinking of this, the damn memory from his previous life started to attack Guan Zu————

Hong Kong's service attitude!

It was really too bad!

It was super bad even to the locals in Hong Kong!

Let alone to the mainland!

With such a bad service attitude, who would want to come? Even the locals couldn't stand it, and the mainland couldn't stand it even more.

In the first ten years of his previous life, Hong Kong relied on its developed economy to attract tourists from all over the country.

But in the last ten years, the number of tourists started to decrease significantly.

So... damn it, it was still necessary to change this bad habit of the service industry in Hong Kong.

Guan Zu looked at the three: "Investment is no problem... but before investing, you help me do an investigation for Hong Kong."

The three: "Ah??"

Guan Zu didn't hide it: "I have always wanted to attract mainland tourists to travel to Hong Kong, but the attitude of those service staff in Hong Kong is really stinky. I need you to send employees and tourists over, 100 people, to experience tourism for a week, and record it, forming a report on service attitude for me... of course, the expenses will be reimbursed by Five-Star Group."

The three looked at each other.

This also works?

"No problem, Mr. Guan!"

"I'll arrange for people to come over right away!"

Boss Liang patted his chest and agreed.

Actually, he wanted to say that we would bear the expenses ourselves to show sincerity in cooperation, but Trip. com was too poor now and had no money.

Miserable~~~

Guan Zu laughed: "Good, happy cooperation!"

"I'll treat you to pork tripe stuffed chicken!"

Pork tripe stuffed chicken, let's go!

I don't know if a message will spread in the future—as long as you get Mr. Guan's favor, you will definitely eat pork tripe stuffed chicken!

(Jack Ma: "????" I didn't eat it~~~)

At noon,

The three ate a delicious pork tripe stuffed chicken.

……

That same day, a batch of tourists (employee family members) arrived in Hong Kong.

They mixed into various places in Hong Kong, shopping, eating, eating...

And then recorded what they saw and heard.

……

A week later, a 20-page report, along with thick original materials, was sent to Guan Zu.

Service attitude

The proportion of good was only 3%.

The proportion of qualified was only 10%.

The proportion of bad was 87%!

Guan Zu only felt his eyes go black.

Can't bear to look!

Guan Zu made a phone call to ATV; Guan Zu wanted to have a chat with the citizens of Hong Kong. ===== CHAPTER 890 =====