China’s hotels see Golden Week boom  | WARC | The Feed

China’s hotels see Golden Week boom 

China’s hotels are seeing such a surge in demand during the Golden Week holiday that room prices are rocketing and some local authorities have intervened to stop profiteering. 

Why it matters

With Covid-era restrictions now lifted, it seems that China’s tourism sector is finally getting up to speed once more. But the recovery has not been without problems, which often relate to customer experience and which could have a long-term impact on brand perceptions.

What’s happening

• With overseas travel opportunities still limited by flight numbers, domestic tourism has increased sharply. 
• While tourists expected some increase in room prices, they didn’t anticipate them rising by 10x, as has been reported in some cases.
• Local authorities in Zibo intervened to cap the increase in hotel rates at 50%, the South China Morning Post reported. 
• After three years of under-occupation, some hotels have found themselves without adequate numbers of trained staff to cope with the current level of business. That has led in some areas to complaints about the quality of service. 
• Data from Trip.com indicates that smaller mainland cities – like Zibo, which has been named the country’s ‘outdoor barbecue capital’ – have become the most popular destinations for domestic travellers. 

Sourced from South China Morning Post