Chapter 760 - 708: Pie in the Sky
Old Ruby's words caused Old Qiao on the side to feel discontent. The old guy tapped the ceramic bowl with a fork unhappily and said, "Hey, Old Ruby, you old dog have no idea what a good hunter is..."
Ever since Old Ruby offloaded the burden of the camp onto Mountain Eagle, and watched the camp grow and thrive, he transformed from a dying old man into a vigorous camp manager.
'Old dog' isn't considered a curse in the Europe and America context. Old Ruby looked at the somewhat flustered Old Qiao and smiled at Mountain Eagle, saying, "Boss, these two old things, Qiao and Quida, are taking great advantage of you. Now they eat and drink in the camp without doing much work...
I think their salary is a bit too high!"
Mountain Eagle looked at Old Qiao, who seemed a bit panicked, and smiled while waving his hand, "I think it's quite good as it is now.
After all, this place is not a paradise; it's much more dangerous compared to other places.
No one wants to get involved with a trouble-loving boss. From this perspective, I'm offering a lousy job, so I need to find a balance elsewhere."
Old Ruby paused and then looked at Old Qiao, saying, "Old Qiao, you and Quida are lucky. Who would have thought that at your age, your old lives would become valuable instead."
This time, Old Qiao didn't refute and instead nodded seriously, saying, "Hunting and fishing in Alaska is actually a life-threatening job. Compared to that, our current situation is indeed much better.
Maybe we should get someone to help promote it this summer, bring in some customers, and then we could earn our salaries."
Mountain Eagle picked up a potsticker and stuffed it into his mouth, shaking his head while chewing, "No need. If it weren't for the situation in Anchorage, there would've been a delegation from my hometown over by now.
Although the visit is postponed, the twin cities' matters have been settled. This summer, I'll see to it that, no matter what, the rooms at the camp are filled with guests.
Those who come here are generally wealthy people. By providing them with an unprecedented experience combined with targeted promotion, we can attract a large batch of customers."
Hearing this, Old Ruby blinked and curiously asked, "Do people from East really want to fly over ten thousand kilometers to vacation in Alaska?"
Mountain Eagle swallowed the potsticker in his mouth and said with a smiling face, "That depends on how we promote it...
Alaska is worth seeing both in winter and summer, but the facilities here are far behind, so we need to target our clientele specifically!
Those who love unrestricted freedom, the aura of wilderness, adventure, and novelty, the upper-middle class or wealthy individuals.
We'll take them tracking brown bears and moose, give them the opportunity to be close to nature and wildlife.
We'll take them to learn hunting with Indians, take them fishing for big fish, take them flying over Alaska, let them experience Alaskan wilderness camping, and chase the aurora...
Hire a few excellent chefs and a few young people with brains and a service mindset to occasionally create a bit of surprise and a romantic atmosphere for the guests.
As long as pricing is referenced against local rates, someone is bound to fall in love with this place!
As far as I know about the Easterners, as long as the promotion is done right, we'll easily fill the rooms at the camp with guests."
Old Ruby looked at Mountain Eagle's confident look, and a bit incredulously said, "Really?
We don't even have amusement parks or shopping malls here..."
Hearing this, Mountain Eagle laughed and said, "Eastern tourists love to shop malls, partly out of curiosity and partly because of the tax issue. Buying luxury goods abroad, whether bags or watches, is 10%~15% cheaper than back home.
But we have similar things here. Emperor Salmon, a luxury in food ingredients, is not worth much here.
There are also wild cod, pollock, smelt, and even reindeer meat, moose meat, bear meat—things that even many in the United States have never had in their lifetimes.
The most important thing is we can help them break their existing frameworks, and let them feel the freedom of breaking boundaries while ensuring safety.
There are too many people in East, and without rules and constraints, many strange situations would arise, so even when traveling, they are surrounded by rules from top to bottom.
In all scenic areas, there are fences at cliff edges, toilets within a 30-minute walking distance for tourists, warning signs in areas with dangerous animals or potential life-threatening hazards...
These rules aren't made by bored management departments but are necessary after a demographic reaches a certain size. There will be some fools who do absurd things and might even lose their lives because of it.
Rules set for these fools affect the experience of those truly yearning for travel and who can take responsibility for themselves, and even make most Easterners develop a travel inertia...
Sightseeing briefly, taking photos, always feeling rushed, and instead, clearly defined travel projects with clear goals, shopping malls with service, and well-ruled amusement parks make them feel at ease.
What we need to do is to open a window for some people, under the premise of roughly ensuring safety, and let them truly feel the sense of freedom unconfined by frameworks, truly enjoy traveling and vacationing.
Not many people can accept this type of travel, but considering the population base, filling our camp won't be hard at all."
As soon as Mountain Eagle talks business, he naturally slips into a professional demeanor...
Naturally stands tall, naturally raises his voice, and naturally pauses after each section, then nods his head first, leading the listeners to subconsciously nod along.
He's never done tourism, so much of what he says is broad strokes based on his feelings. In reality, achieving success in a very niche sector under the large umbrella of travel is far from as simple as he describes.
But what he said was able to grab everyone's attention, and these words echoed in their ears, making it seem like this thing really could happen, as if it had already succeeded.
Xiao Wan looked at Old Ruby's face flushed with excitement, smoke almost coming out of his head, and she tapped Yue Yi on the head as he secretly added chili to Luna's food, then walked over to Mountain Eagle, pulled him a bit, and said crossly, "What are you bragging about?
You're talking as if it were true?
You can't even solve the safety issues right now, and yet you're talking about the tourism industry?"
Mountain Eagle, upon hearing this, said discontentedly, "Any project starts with some bragging...
Ignore those negative factors, highlight the positive sides, and showcase them as much as possible, boosting the team's morale and confidence; that's key to a good start for a project.
Just tell me my statements were wrong just now..."
Xiao Wan looked at the somewhat childish Mountain Eagle and said, exasperated, "Right, right, you're always right...
But you didn't mention that there aren't enough commercial activities here, no complete facilities to ensure security, not even basic service personnel, let alone guaranteed safety...
Are the guests coming here expecting you, the boss, to cook for them and also stand guard?"
Mountain Eagle was momentarily speechless, then a bit defiant as he said, "Safety here isn't a problem...
You don't understand, I don't have insignificant enemies like that.
As long as I can win this battle against winter, those people won't come here to cause trouble anymore.
They'll sit at home, trembling, waiting for me, while reaching out to make peace through intermediaries!
Without their interference, safety is the easiest problem to solve; there are experienced hunters and fishermen among the natives who can ensure the guests' safety in the wild.
I even have newly purchased helicopters and jungle planes here, ready to get people to Anchorage at the first sign of trouble.
My hardware conditions may not be great, but back home, the tycoons flock to spend tens of thousands to see the aurora in Finland during the New Year; does that broken place have what you mentioned?
Is the aurora something impressive here?
Those rich old folks are willing to spend one hundred thousand yuan for a trip to Antarctica; if they come here, I'll take them to the Arctic for two days with lower prices—isn't that worthwhile?"
Mountain Eagle, becoming a bit excited, said, "The tycoons going to Finland are seeking luxury and high-value social connections because the group fee already helps them filter potential acquaintances, making a trip worth it as they might meet future useful contacts.
Here, not only do I use the group fee to filter them, but I also use various wild projects to help them find like-minded friends...
Fishing and hunting are the quickest ways to forge relationships among men; doing something thrilling and dangerous together, especially if there's some reward, easily forms friendships between men.
Just like how you women find friends while walking dogs or taking the kids out...
This is true effective socializing!"
Xiao Wan coldly looked at Mountain Eagle making ridiculous boasts and said unexpectedly, "You seem quite familiar with this...
But sure, among men, having carried guns together or frequented brothels together forms strong bonds of friendship...
Just like you said, it's both dangerous and exciting!"
Mountain Eagle blinked his eyes, suddenly patted his head, and said to Old Ruby, who didn't understand Chinese, "Hey, who was the best hunter we talked about in Alaska just now?"
Saying that, Mountain Eagle pulled Old Ruby outside while saying, "Since he's the best hunter, we must show him respect no matter what. When is Little Ruby arriving? I'll drive over and fetch him myself."
Xiao Wan watched Mountain Eagle's slightly embarrassed figure, and she let out a laugh. Then she saw her son wipe his oily little paws on her clothes, and she reacted as if electrocuted, rushing over to grab Yue Yi's ear and start lecturing him...
In just a year and a half, Yue Yi had experienced the ups and downs of childhood, while his mom Xiao Wan, having lost him before, tightened her control as soon as he returned to her side.
However, his dad had a different style, so the child was currently in a highly rebellious phase...
Facing his mom's punishment, he fully embraced the attitude of letting the words in one ear and out the other, like a stubborn pig oblivious to boiling water, piling on a flattering smile to coax his mom away, then turned back to whatever he was doing.
Xiao Wan also knew her approach wasn't quite right, but adult PTSD isn't so easily dissipated...
As she considered intensifying her control again, the sound of an aircraft filled the sky...
Upon hearing this, Yue Yi immediately charged up to catch up with his dad going out...
"Mom, I'll go see what the best hunter in Alaska looks like..."