Baidu Direct Access brings West Lake on board, pioneering a domestic O2O closed-loop experience for scenic electronic tickets
Say goodbye to paper tickets. Baidu Direct Access pioneers ticket salesO2Oin a closed loop that shows e-tickets make your park visit even more enjoyable
“Hey~~~ hey~~~ / The beauty of West Lake in March days / Spring rain like wine, willows like mist / Fate brings us together from afar / Just use Baidu Direct Access~” When people see these lyrics, many can’t help but sing along. The romantic love story of Lady White Snake and Xu Xian on the Broken Bridge in West Lake makes couples yearn to visit. But what if we tweak those lyrics a bit? Doesn’t it still flow pretty well?
Many recent visitors to West Lake would agree with those lyrics—they’ve all purchased tickets to various attractions through Baidu Direct Access. Qing Yuliang, manager of the E-commerce Division of the West Lake Scenic Area, revealed that just one week after the launch of West Lake’s Baidu Direct Access,over 10,000 tickets have been sold. Regarding this achievement, Qing Yuliang believes Baidu’s search entry advantage has brought a large number of users to the scenic area. Features like “low prices,” “mobile QR code entry,” “no queuing,” and “convenience” have enhanced the user experience of purchasing tickets via mobile. Meanwhile, as the official service page for West Lake, the Direct Access account gives users peace of mind by allowing them to access services directly with one click.
It is understood that this is the first time Baidu Direct Access has pioneered a domestic O2O closed-loop experience for scenic electronic tickets. It is also the first time West Lake has collaborated with an internet company to carry out on-site promotional activities, marking the best opportunity yet for the mobile transformation of the West Lake Scenic Area.
Now, simply search for@West Lake in the Baidu mobile search box to access the West Lake Baidu Direct Access account. Purchasing tickets, viewing attractions, and getting route guidance are all very convenient.
West Lake launches Baidu Direct Access—senior citizens and foreigners “meet by fate from afar”
On the morning of November 10, 50-year-old Grandpa Li Guanghong and his daughter came to visit the Lingyin Scenic Area of West Lake. Faced with the long queue at the ticket booth, impatient Grandpa Li couldn’t stand it. That’s when he noticed the promotional activity for West Lake’s Baidu Direct Access at the entrance. All he had to do was @West Lake on Baidu Mobile to access the Direct Access account and purchase tickets for various attractions, skipping the queue.
Grandpa Li decided to give it a try, but unfortunately, there were too many people around and the network wasn’t great. However, after chatting with the staff, he learned that Baidu Direct Access not only offered discounted tickets but also provided text, video, and voice guides for detailed attraction information—more convenient than hiring a tour guide. This convinced him to go ahead. He @West Lake, selected the attraction ticket, clicked to purchase, filled in the relevant information, made an online payment, and generated a mobile QR code. Elated after successfully purchasing his ticket, Grandpa Li said, “Who says we old folks are behind the times? I’m willing to learn and use something as convenient as Baidu Direct Access. Just scan the phone QR code to enter the scenic area—no queue, discounts, and even audio guides while sightseeing. West Lake really did something convenient for us common folks.”
At the West Lake Scenic Area, there is a special entrance opened specifically for Baidu Direct Access (shown on the left in the photo). Visitors who purchase tickets through Baidu Direct Access only need to scan a QR code to enter the scenic area without queuing.
Staff promoting the Direct Access account at the Lingyin Scenic Area said Grandpa Li wasn’t the first enthusiastic user. Two Malaysian exchange students who came to visit West Lake insisted on trying Baidu Direct Access after hearing about it. Although they didn’t have Chinese ID cards and couldn’t complete the payment themselves, they were determined to experience it, thinking that scanning a QR code to enter without a paper ticket was really cool. In the end, the staff helped them buy the tickets online and sent them the QR codes and SMS, allowing them to successfully experience it.
From the launch of West Lake’s Baidu Direct Access on November 8 to now, just a short week later, Qing Yuliang never expected it to attract so many visitors and achieve such great results. Previously, tickets could also be purchased on mobile, but visitors had to exchange the code for a paper ticket on-site. Now, @West Lake allows direct QR code entry and even lets you choose your entry time, making things much more convenient for many visitors. Visitors have been praising the West Lake Direct Access account. He said that so far, over 10,000 tickets have been sold. The on-site promotion activities have now expanded to 8 attractions, selling 500–600 tickets per day, and the activities are still ongoing. The number of users accessing the West Lake Baidu Direct Access account and purchasing tickets is soaring. The charm of West Lake is being shared with more users through Baidu Direct Access.
Mobile tour from start to finish—Baidu Direct Access pioneers the O2O closed-loop experience for electronic tickets
This time,unlike previous online ticket purchases that required exchanging a code for a paper ticket on-site, the West Lake Baidu Direct Access allows entry with just the e-ticket and even lets you select your travel date. Users only need to complete their ticket purchase through the Baidu Direct Access account to receive a corresponding QR code. Scanning the electronic QR code on their phone at the entrance machine completes the entry process, eliminating the previous need to queue up after exchanging a code for a paper ticket—achieving a full e-ticket closed-loop experience. The successful implementation of this O2O model at West Lake is the first time a domestic tourist attraction has achieved a full O2O closed-loop service. Officials from Baidu Direct Access believe this model truly realizes the essence of O2O and greatly simplifies the conversion process from online to offline, allowing users to enjoy the most convenient service throughout the experience.
In addition, regarding how Baidu Direct Access has delivered better-than-expected results for the West Lake Scenic Area, Qing Yuliang summarized several reasons. Most importantly, the @One-Click Direct Access method maximizes the advantages of Baidu Search. Qing Yuliang believes Baidu has a huge user base, and user searches directly indicate their needs. Now, users can @West Lake to reach the service page, converting a large number of online users into offline visitors. Secondly, purchasing tickets through Baidu Direct Access offers users both “low prices” and “no queuing.” For popular attractions like Lingyin, the original price is 45 yuan, but tickets on Baidu Direct Access are only 42 yuan. The average queuing time for ticket purchase is around 10–20 minutes, but with Baidu Direct Access, there’s no queue—just scan the QR code to enter after successful payment. Thirdly, as the official service page for West Lake, the Direct Access account is more trustworthy, giving users greater confidence whether they’re paying for tickets or learning about the scenic area. Qing Yuliang said these great results have changed the previous “hesitation” among scenic area staff regarding mobile transformation.
At the Baidu Direct Access and West Lake Scenic Area on-site promotion event, many visitors were attracted by this novel one-stop ticket purchasing experience and tried it out under the guidance of staff.
As a traditional industry, West Lake—having tried various approaches such as apps and PC websites—finally found the right path with the launch of Baidu Direct Access. With the right approach, the results came, visitor acceptance was high, and the “hesitation” among scenic area staff naturally dissipated.
Qing Yuliang said actively embracing the internet and building smart scenic areas is something all national scenic spots are doing, and West Lake has always hoped to provide visitors with richer services and a better touring experience. Since Baidu Direct Access can help achieve this long-held wish, the “love story” between West Lake and Baidu Direct Access will continue.
The ongoing joint on-site promotion activities between West Lake and Baidu Direct Access are still continuing. Next, West Lake will further enhance its services by introducing features like scenic navigation and smoother voice guides in the Baidu Direct Access account, inviting even more visitors to come from afar to meet its beauty.
Baidu Direct Access has been running on the path of “driving traditional merchants toward mobile transformation.” Since its launch on September 3, over 400,000 merchants have joined Baidu Direct Access, covering industries such as food and beverage, tourism, education, and finance. Currently, Baidu Direct Access has become the best way for traditional merchants to embrace mobile internet, truly connecting people with services.