The scenic area of Mount Tianmu in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province is seen on Saturday. The town of Mount Tianmu has used its ecological advantages to develop a rural tourism industry. Characteristic projects such as camping under the starry skies have been created. Incubators for youth travel start-ups, homestays and other travel-related industries have been boosted. Photo: cnsphoto

Bookings for rural homestays in multiple districts in Beijing have surged for the approaching five-day May Day holidays as local residents are encouraged to stay within the city amid the resurgence of COVID-19 throughout China. 

Several rural homestays located in Beijing's Huairou, Yanqing, and Pinggu districts confirmed with the Global Times on Saturday that almost all rooms for the May Day holidays starting from April 30 to May 4 have been fully booked. 

The demand for rural homestays close to Beijing accounted for 85 percent of the total bookings in the city for the holidays, while the top 10 destinations are located in the city's outer reaches and scenic spots, data from leading China's home-sharing platform tujia.com revealed. 

The data also revealed that among the top destinations, bookings for homestays in Huairou and Yanqing districts had increased 1.5 times year-on-year. The market demand for scenic spots in districts, such as the Pinggu district, had increased by nearly three times. 

According to the data form tujia.com, bookings started surging significantly from April 10, with total booking doubling compared to the same period in 2021. 

The Global Times learned that the rooms for the May Day holidays for a variety of homestays on major booking apps such as Trip.com have basically been reserved following a steep increase in prices. 

A homestay owner based in Yanqing district noted that the normal price point for renting a room for a family is usually between 800 and 900 yuan ($123.04-$138.43) per day. 

"Now it will cost 1,500 yuan per day for the room," the owner said, adding that she only accepted bookings via phone calls now and turned off online bookings.

"The rooms would have been fully booked earlier if I left the online booking function open," she said. 

Despite the sporadic COVID-19 outbreaks in the capital, residents remain enthusiastic about spending their holidays in the outskirts of the city especially as local authorities encouraged residents to avoid travel to other provinces during the holidays, as the travel rush could increase the risk of accelerating virus transmission.

Two homestay owners said that they have not yet received any request for cancelation so far as a direct result of the outbreak. 

Beijing had 15 new confirmed cases from 10 pm on Friday to 4 pm on Saturday, the Beijing Municipal Health Commission reported.

The Yanqing-based owner noted that there remained lingering uncertainties for the upcoming holidays affected by the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic. She took multiple calls from guests asking for advice and restrictions on Saturday morning, but that no one had cancelled their booking so far. 

Short trips to rural areas close to homes have become increasingly popular for the upcoming holidays nationwide as the country battles the latest round of domestic outbreaks. 

Bookings for rural homestays for the May Day holidays accounted 51 percent of the total orders on tujia.com, a year-on-year growth of 20 percent. 

Homestays in Beijing have seen several ups and downs due to the COVID-19 epidemic, leading some owners to quit the industry since 2020, and strengthened regulations have also reduced the market supply, according to a report by the paper.cn.