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Homestay providers confident quality services will fuel recovery of the industry, Yang Feiyue reports.
With the novel coronavirus epidemic generally under control in China, tourism is picking up again across the country, and homestay providers are getting back to business.
Zhang Jun, 41, is now considering leasing more houses for his homestay operations.
"Bookings for my rooms have been more than 90 percent since July," says Zhang, who is currently operating about eight houses in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, where China's first novel coronavirus cases were detected.
He dropped eight houses, half of his supply, after the coronavirus hit his business in January.
"All the orders were canceled, as tourism was halted," Zhang says.
But because the business had been doing well before then－usually, about 80 percent of his homestays were booked－and he had faith in tourism recovering quickly once the epidemic was under control, Zhang decided to carry on.
He launched his homestay business part time in 2016, and had been doing so well that he decided to go full time in May, last year.
On average, Zhang made 20,000 yuan ($2,852) a month then.
