Livestreaming prepares homestay industry for post-epidemic explosion

During a two-hour livestreaming session, several dog "broadcasters" ate and played on the lawn of a pet-themed homestay in the city of Hangzhou, eastern China's Zhejiang province, attracting numerous pet owners.

On another live channel, a tea-themed homestay promoted tea culture while advocating a "slow-living lifestyle."

The homestays are members of a self-launched live-broadcasting alliance of the homestay industry established during the coronavirus epidemic. It has attracted more than 110 homestays in regions including Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Yunnan and Hainan.

For the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak, residents have been encouraged to stay at home since the Spring Festival holiday in late January. Many operators had to shut down their homestays temporarily.

According to data provided by China's Airbnb Xiaozhu, China's homestay industry has lost around 90 percent of orders.

A total of 427 homestays cluster in the scenic lakeside town of Shuanglang in Dali, Southwest China's Yunnan province. The local homestay industry was devastated and had lost over 300 million yuan (about $43.3 million).

To support the homestay business and help them recover, Alibaba's tourism arm Fliggy.com has opened an exclusive live channel for members of the newly-founded alliance.

"Even though our homestay remains closed, there are ways for us to gain popularity with potential customers who are staying home," said Mao Dong, operator of the tea-themed homestay.

There have been hundreds of live-broadcasts each day, covering more than 30 countries and regions around the world since the livestreaming platform was launched, with up to 7.5 million online viewers tuned in for a single show, said Xu Xiang, who is in charge of livestreaming business of Fliggy.com.

"During the hardest time for the tourism industry, through livestreaming, merchants can let their customers travel using cloud services. It helps them build their own brands and customer base so that they can embrace the burst of sales once the epidemic is over," said Xu.

The one-month shutdown made Ding Lei, a homestay owner in Shuanglang, agitated, until he received the invitation from Zhao Yihai, president of the association of the local homestay industry, to do livestreaming.

Ding started to prepare for livestreaming sessions of Yunnan traditional handmade flower cakes, fermented bean curd and other local specialties.

"The epidemic makes us realize that making money through renting rooms is out-of-date, which propels us to transform our operating modes," said Zhao. He knows well that since tourism is a seasonal business, operators need to calm down and wait for the market to recover.

According to him, both the rural homestay industry and travel livestreaming are burgeoning industries, and they are still trying to figure out ways to integrate the two.

"Thanks to the magic of online technology, livestreaming generates timely feedback and data for us to adjust our businesses to better serve our customers in the future," said Zhao.

According to Kantar Consulting, tourism, catering and entertainment are the three industries that will have the greatest potential for a rebound in consumption after the epidemic, with 78 percent of consumers saying yes to returning to spending on travel.

"The homestay industry requires long-term maintenance and patience. We are confident that we will get through the hard times," said Mao Dong, operator of the tea-themed homestay. "The spring of our industry is around the corner."