Universal Beijing Resort Photo: Li Hao/GT

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism vowed on Sunday to give away consumption coupon for tourism accommodation reservation in suburban Beijing districts via OTA Qunar in a bid to revive the virus-hit tourism sector following two recent outbreaks of coronavirus in the capital. 

The first order on Qunar was completed only 51 seconds after the coupons were released on Sunday at 12 am. The first consumer booked a room at NUO Resort Hotel situated at the Universal Beijing Resort for the bargain price of 756 yuan ($112.92) after a coupon discount, saving 846 yuan from the room’s original price, and also booked a family pack which included tickets for two adults and one child. 

According to a statement Qunar sent to the Global Times on Sunday, the overall value of the coupons will be no more than 30 million yuan and will be given away in three rounds. The maximum discount for single order will reach 50 percent with the subsidy set at a maximum of 1,000 yuan. 

The coupons can be used for hotel and B&B reservations in Beijing’s 10 suburban districts including Mentougou, Fangshang, Changping, Shunyi amongst others, except for holidays and weekends. During the first hour that the coupons were made available, booking volumes for lodgings located in Miyun, Changping and Tongzhou rose by eight, seven and nine times than over previous days, respectively. 

The consumption coupons targeting the tourism sector was one of the initiatives launched by Beijing authorities recently to boost consumption, which will help the industry better access government support as the pandemic eases, Jiang Yiyi, deputy head of the School of Leisure Sports and Tourism under the Beijing Sport University, told the Global Times on Sunday, noting that summer break period for tourism operators. 

A representative from a B&B guest house told the Global Times on Sunday that her business had been affected by the recent coronavirus outbreaks, and the guest volume had fallen by 50 percent compared with summer 2021. She noted that the coupon release will play a positive role in reviving the tourism sector.

“The consumption coupons may directly help some small- and middle-sized enterprises facing challenges, and it will be a useful tool to stabilize the employment market against the impact of the virus,” Jiang said. 

Gou stated that Beijing’s tourism market had shown signs of recovery from June, as schools and universities started their summer break. In the first week in July, hotel booking volumes rose by 21 percent over the previous week, and surpassed the volume in 2021 during the same period, while also being 12 percent higher than 2019 levels, according to data from Qunar. 

More cities across the country have launched consumption coupons to stimulate retail spending, with measures also being taken by the government. According to a report by the National Business Daily on July 4, China's 10 major consumption centers, including Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, have collectively issued nearly 7 billion yuan worth of consumption coupons since April.

Global Times