On Saipan Island in the Atlantic Ocean, Lao He's bed and breakfast is still vacant for another day.
Even so, Lao He is still very optimistic about the future. From an operational point of view, Lao He is not renting a house, especially after giving his employees a holiday, the cost has been greatly reduced. He predicted that after the end of the epidemic, the entire society will usher in retaliatory consumption, and the tourism industry may recover quickly. The homestay can be put into operation very quickly and begin to receive tourists as usual.
"In this case, the most difficult thing is the hotel. The price of a normal homestay is much lower than that of a hotel, so the probability of survival is relatively higher. Many homestays are renovations of their own houses, and there is almost no major cost. The epidemic will affect the hotel industry. The impact is great, but it is relatively okay for the homestay unless you have a loan." Old He said confidently.
Homestay operations encounter difficulties
Ding Dong!
Amber’s mobile phone prompt sounded, and a platform notification popped up at the top of the screen: “The order was successfully cancelled, and the relevant money will be refunded to the other party’s account.”
It was already two o'clock in the morning, Paris time, but Amber was unable to fall asleep. As a homestay operator, Amber has experienced a bitter period. Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, she has been dealing with customer cancellation requests almost every day.
Originally, the small long holiday during the Chinese New Year was the new beginning of the peak tourist season in 2020, which is very exciting, but the sudden attack of the epidemic not only disrupted people’s beautiful travel plans, but also caused countless streets and alleys in the world, especially in European and American countries. The operators of homestays are worried. There have been no guests and visitors for more than half a year, and the sudden increase in vacancy rate makes the upcoming September a life and death season for many homestays.
Amber keeps a French bulldog in his homestay. Bulldogs are covered with dark brown spots all over, hence the name "soy sauce". With its small and cute appearance and a pair of cute eyes, soy sauce has won the hearts of countless guests and is the most popular "staff" of the hotel. Now, this "signature employee" is like the tens of thousands of bed and breakfast people, staying at home and forced to take a vacation, at this time has long been nestled in the furry cushion to sleep soundly.
In the first half of this year, Amber launched its fifth listing. With the idea of passing on the unique life experience to more people, Amber entered a popular global short-term rental platform for homestays in September last year and started as a sideline business for homestays. But because of its high-end positioning such as its central location and elegant environment, her rent is not cheap. Under the high rent, the profit is not even as high as the salary of her job as a teacher. Speaking of the experience of operating a homestay, Amber’s tone was a bit tired: “Every day I worry about the guest’s poor experience, afraid of bad reviews, and still try to solve the guest’s problem at three in the morning. When the profit is meager, I will always counteroffer. Difficult guests, my heart really collapsed, thinking that the income is not high, I just gave up. But I saw that the guests lived well and had a good time in these homestays I had organized, and I also met many friendly guests. My friend, I feel from the bottom of my heart that all this is still worth it."
In the face of the epidemic, many customers who cancel their orders hope to receive a full refund or a half-price refund. Considering the question of the survival of the capital chain and listings, for the tenants who wish to charge back, Amber chose to handle it through the platform. However, in order to make up for the loss of customers, Amber gave the affected guests a discount of 40% in peak season and 20% in off-season.
There are also Huzi who moved in at the same time as Amber. In the summer of last year, Huzi received a steady stream of orders for the three houses in the hands of Huzi almost immediately after it went online, and the occupancy rate was full. Even in the winter during the off-season, Huzi’s B&B has only a 20% vacancy rate. Due to the good reputation and high ratings of the listings, as early as December last year, the three listings in Huzi's hands were basically booked in the first quarter of this year. After the outbreak, people stayed closed, and the reduction in consumption has dealt a heavy blow to the service industry. Tourism is the first to bear the brunt. The room occupancy rate plummeted from nearly 99% to zero. The problem of how to keep the well-decorated housing that he has carefully renovated has made Hu Zi suffer.
May be wasted all year
If Amber and Huzi are affected by continuous rain, then the epidemic is cruel and continuous hail for Lao He.
As the first group of entrepreneurs in the world to start homestays, Lao He has settled in Saipan for more than ten years. Saipan is located in the western Pacific Ocean and is a small island tourist attraction that is popular among Asian tourists. Saipan's seascape tourism resources have been developed since the late 20th century. In 2009, Saipan introduced a 45-day visa-free policy for Chinese tourists. Thanks to the encouragement of the New Deal and the ultra-short distance of the four-hour flight, this beautiful island has attracted a large number of Chinese tourists. The increase in tourists has further promoted the development of the tourism industry and attracted a large influx of hot money. With this opportunity, Lao He leased a piece of land on the island and started a homestay. Due to the early development, the tourist facilities on Saipan are relatively outdated, and Lao He’s homestay was built late and equipped with advanced equipment. It was favored by tourists as soon as it went online. Coupled with the reasonable price of the house and the picturesque scenery, Lao He's homestays have basically been full for more than a year.
The severe epidemic has hit this small island that relies on tourism to survive even more severely. Since March, due to the reduction of international flights, tourists on the island have become very scarce. From the full house in January to February, only some tourists stayed in the house in order to avoid the epidemic, and finally there were almost no guests staying in the hardest time in March. Lao He took unpaid leave for the employees of the hotel. Under the current circumstances, as the owner of the hotel, many things can only be done by himself and cannot afford to hire people. "The biggest concern in this industry is not what it is now, but when it will get better in the future." Lao He seemed a little worried. "Because compared to other industries, the tourism industry must be the last to recover. So it shouldn't be a period of time. It is very likely that the whole year was wasted this year."
All industries on Saipan have stalled. The US government has decided to issue subsidies, but there is still a gap in the specific implementation. At present, the entire islanders are in a state of burial. When asked about the next plan, why bother to laugh a few times: "The plan for the next half of the year is that there is no plan. There is no plan at all. Because the entire island is imported from outside, I want to develop Just go to build an infinity pool, or continue to add a house. But because the capital has not been accumulated shortly after the opening, it is currently impossible to achieve this level. So there is nothing else to think about, I can only wait. Get through this first Epidemic, let’s see what's going on."
In the first few years of operation, the homestay market gave Amber a great surprise and also brought her even greater ambitions. This spring, Amber initiated a financing project. The epidemic disrupted the arrangement of the capital chain and caused the entire homestay industry to experience an avalanche-like decline, but the temporary trough also provided Amber with a suitable time to enter the market.
"The industry is suspended, we continue to adapt to the market, accumulate word of mouth, in the future will only be more'expensive'." Amber wrote in the financing plan. Using the funds obtained from the financing, Amber did not retreat during the epidemic, but has already set up a new house in a new "local", and built its own new "stock" after renovation.
As the sun sets, Amber puts a pot of fresh vegetables with water droplets next to a small hot pot that is already tumbling and bubbling, and says to the author: "Even if it is closed, life continues."
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