At that time, I felt that these countries were a bit overwhelming. In a few days, when the domestic epidemic stabilized, visas should be open.
Image source: Registered Migration Agent
But some countries are still open to China, and our business has not been interrupted. Most of the visa centers in France, Germany, South Africa, and Poland have been on vacation since years ago, and have been repeatedly postponed in official website notifications. Opening hours have also begun. Visas can also be obtained for other countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, etc. Throughout February, the company’s business volume dropped by more than 90%, but I think it can still be maintained.
By mid-February, I was staring at the news every day, watching the changes in the epidemic situation. At that time, when I saw various cities in China, the number of epidemic cases was gradually controlled. At that time, I thought that visas from overseas countries would gradually be released. At this time, I wasn’t too worried. I talked with my colleagues and felt that there would be another month. By early April, how to apply for a visa can be restored to normal.
What really worries us is that the South Korean epidemic broke out at the end of February. At that time, many countries immediately imposed a blockade on South Korea, and Japan suffered the same situation after the cruise. At that time, I felt that overseas might not be as simple as we thought.
Subsequently, epidemics followed in Italy and other European and American countries. At that time, I went to the German Visa Center to apply for a visa, and the Visa Center was basically empty. I felt that the dawn had just begun in China and the chaos abroad, and at this time I felt that the return to normality was in the foreseeable future.
From February to March, we still have a small amount of business. Compared with February, there is a downward trend in early March. In early March, after the epidemic began to spread widely abroad, many countries have suspended visa operations, such as Malaysia, Thailand, and South Africa. These countries have closed, and South Africa has been opened and closed. So since mid-March, there has been basically no business and no customer consultation, because everyone knows that nothing can be done during this time.
Now it seems that I personally think that the visa industry can return to normal levels from July to August. At present, European and American countries belong to the second batch of large-scale outbreaks. I do n’t know if there will be a third batch of outbreaks in countries such as South America and Africa. The recovery depends on the development of the epidemic.
Before that, whether it was the visa industry orThe outbound tourism industry is basically stopped. The visa industry is divided into two categories, some of which are owned by travel agencies and serve this travel agency. Generally, there are more employees in outbound travel agencies. Companies like Hong Kong China Travel, CYTS and Kanghui will definitely have a greater impact on them, and their labor costs will be more.
The second category is visa service agencies like ours. The company has 10 employees and is considered a small and medium-sized enterprise in the visa industry. It also has a great impact on us. It has no income at all and can only carry it. The company pays its employees a basic salary of 3,000 yuan per month. The company has no income, plus expenses such as rent, and continues to lose money, which is also very unfavorable to the company.
Some of our peers started to work as micro-businesses, while others went to run flash delivery and do some part-time delivery. Our company is also thinking, how to spend these months? I personally feel that suddenly there is no way to develop sideline businesses. Customers, customers, and products are not immediately available. It is basically impossible to find an industry that can be developed immediately.
This time can only be done to do some “patching” work. I was busy before, the company’s website construction, applets, etc. were put on hold. Now I want to communicate with others and learn more.