Tourism growth drive in full swing
Independent tourists heading to Anji county in the eastern province of Zhejiang now have easier access to local travel information and discounted tickets, thanks to Anji Haoqi Travel, an online tourism platform.
Rather than staying at chain hotels like group tourists, independent travelers usually prefer to use premises such as homestays operated by local people.
“Tourists usually ask their lodging hosts for travel advice and ticket information,” Xu Jiawei, founder of the online tourism platform that focuses on Anji and neighboring areas, told local media.
“But tourist sites often only provide discounted tickets to group travelers. In Anji those lodgings are usually operated by local middle-aged or senior couples, who have less bargaining power with tourist sites to gain preferential treatment for their guests.”
More than 300 lodging houses and a dozen tourist sites are scattered across the county. Their information has been collected on Xu’s platform, which has developed a smart map called the Anji Haoqi Global Tourism Map.
Each lodging house and tourist site has a code on the map, and visitors can scan it to obtain travel and lodging information, as well as coupons for tickets.
The platform links lodging hosts and tourist sites to attract more independent travelers and lower ticket prices, aiming for a solution that suits visitors, small hotel operators and tourist sites alike.
Although tourism has been hit hard by the pandemic, the annual income of each lodging house owner who has joined the platform has risen by an average of about 25,000 yuan ($3,900) a year in two years.
Xu, 29, an Anji native and college graduate, discovered the business opportunity when some relatives complained about the lack of information on local travel.
In 2019 she quit her job in Hangzhou, the provincial capital, and returned to her hometown to start the business.
She received a loan of 100,000 yuan thanks to a recommendation from the Anji government. The money came from a foundation that encourages young people who start businesses in the province, and it has also offered Xu assistance by helping to manage her account.
Xu’s success reflects Zhejiang’s preferential policies aimed at attracting highquality talent and encouraging graduates to return to rural areas and create startups. It is aimed at stimulating local socioeconomic development and promoting the cause of common prosperity.
College students can borrow up to 500,000 yuan to start businesses, said Chen Zhong, deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Human Resources and Social Security Department.
If the venture fails the government will help repay at least 80% of the loan initially, while extending the period for borrowers to pay back the money.
More than 10 million students will graduate from China’s colleges and universities this year, Chen said, and the province will endeavor to attract more educated young people.
Local policies not only attract business starters with innovative ideas, but also lure regular young workers.
Qiu Lei, 26, a native of Qinglongwu village in Tonglu county of Zhejiang, has returned to his hometown to work as a manager at a small high-end hotel.
He said he is happy with the monthly salary of about 5,000 yuan and the annual bonus he receives at the end of the year.
The hotel has 13 rooms, each costing about 1,500 to 2,000 yuan per night. Qiu’s customers are mostly people from the prosperous Yangtze River Delta region, who like to enjoy quiet weekends in the countryside.
“I was born and raised here (in the Tonglu countryside) and I am happy to stay here to enjoy a quiet, calm life,” Qiu said.
The satisfactory income has encouraged him to stay, he said.
The tourism boom in the Zhejiang countryside has offered more young people opportunities to find jobs with decent incomes. That is encouraging them to live and work in the rural areas, injecting new life and helping to achieve the goal of common prosperity.
In June China issued a guideline on building Zhejiang into a demonstration zone for achieving common prosperity. Under the guideline, the province will strive to achieve the goal by 2035, by which time its per capita GDP and the incomes of urban and rural residents should have reached the standards of developed countries.
Zhejiang was selected as a pilot zone because it is a comparatively wealthy province and the urban-rural gap is small, said Ha Zengyou, director of the department of employment, income distribution and consumption at the National Development and Reform Commission.
“The problem of unbalanced and inadequate development is still pronounced, and promoting common prosperity for all people is a long-term, arduous historic task.”
Zhejiang can provide a successful example for the whole country to promote common prosperity, he said.