Chinese tourist sector shows resilience amid Delta spikes

The latest resurgence of Covid-19 in China, caused mainly by the Delta variant, is more complicated, and 15 provincial-level regions -- out of 31 -- on the Chinese mainland have reported Covid-19 infections, said a Xinhua report on Aug. 5

On the same day, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a notice, saying provinces with medium or high-risk areas should immediately suspend inter-provincial tourist services, which can be resumed only when the areas are reduced to low-risk ones.

12 Chinese provinces were of medium or high Covid risks as of the noon of August 6: Jiangsu, Yunnan, Henan, Hunan, Beijing, Sichuan, Liaoning, Fujian, Hubei, Shandong, Shanghai and Hainan.

Hotel staffers never give up

Located in the Nanjing Lukou Airport, Yaduo Hotel received the notification of confirmed cases on the evening of July 20, and it soon became a front of the Delta fight. That night, the hotel’s staffers stuck to their posts late, busy with disinfection and others.

Mr. Zhang, manager of a hotel in the Zhangjiajie scenic area, said the Nanjing outbreak was something “quite unexpected”. When the Guangzhou and Shenzhen Covid outbreaks were brought under control, Zhang thought his hotel would enjoy good business in the summer holiday.

For Chinese hotels, the summer  and winter vacations are good occasions for them to "show off” in services, but the Covid uncertainties destroyed their original plans. In spite of this, many hotel brands began to try new service tips.

Vienna Hotel offered the original mascot of Berubi in IP rooms, while the Inter Continental Century City Chengdu promoted its services on Tik Tok and Kuaishou. The Chengdu hotel is followed by over one million on the video-sharing networks.

In the Guangzhou and Nanjing Covid outbreaks, local hotels were not in a state of fear, but took immediate actions in room isolation, holistic disinfection and nucleic acid testing.

Travel services think in big picture

Given the 5 medium and high-risk areas in west Yunnan’s Dehong prefecture, Yunnan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism stopped inter-provincial tours shortly after the ministry’s notice. Local travel services showed understanding to the Covid prevention measure.

"We’ll surely follow the requirements of the ministry and stop sending tourist groups to other provinces," said representatives of Yunnan travel agencies. On receiving the notice, the travel services began to contact the signed tourists and talked about refund and others.

While canceling the interprovincial tours, some promised full refund, others said the guest's trip will be postponed for some time. They tried to minimize the loss of their clients.

Zhao Jiaqi, president of Yunnan Travel Agency Association, said that the Covid situation is grim, and the traditional summer travel peak ended ahead of schedule. “Though disappointed, we have to think in the bigger picture to tide over the times.”

From the operational point of view, tourists will lose a lot if the planned tours are cancelled approaching to the departure, observed Sun Guizhen, secretary-general of China Association of Travel Services.

Source: Meadin.com and Yunnan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue