Visions in the stream

Many visitors to Pu’er are from Yunnan. It’s a popular destination for families. The city is a good getaway to avoid the summer heat. Pu’er is less commercialized and has maintained its authentic ethnic culture. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Some travelers come for its famous Pu'er tea and to enjoy a slow pace of life.

Livestreaming is more like online marketing because consumers won't make decisions instantly while watching, unlike how they purchase snacks.

She says travelers are more selective about travel due to budgets limited by the pandemic's economic impact. They prefer products with a high performance-price ratio. And many hotels, scenic areas and travel agencies are offering unprecedented discounts.

She expects the recent localized cluster of COVID-19 infections in Beijing will influence China's tourism recovery. It may make some people take a wait-and-see approach.

She says her agency's focus is on serving more tourists during the Dragon Boat Festival and the summer holiday. She hopes the domestic tourism market will recover to a higher level before the weeklong National Day holiday in early October, since it's the year's last peak travel season.

China Tourism Academy associate research fellow Zhan Dongmei says livestreaming has played an important role in tourism's recovery.

It allows those who are confined to their homes or are otherwise postponing travel to learn about scenic areas and museums from new perspectives.

"Those who work in the tourism industry should be used to the normalcy of prevention and control work of COVID-19 and improve their products in line with the situation. Tourists should also make proper and safe travel plans under such circumstances," she says.

"The recent cases in Beijing will only affect the tourism recovery within a certain scope. And the public is already aware of scientific ways to prevent and control the virus."

Reporting by Xu Lin (China Daily); editing by Wang Jingzhong