Tourism seeking paths out of virus doldrums

BLAZE ONLINE, LOCAL TRAILS

Many fresh endeavors are putting the travel experience online via social media platforms and livestreaming sites to engage potential tourists, covering everything from cherry blossoms in Wuhan to introductions of the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Online sales promotions of local produce and other tourism products are also gaining popularity. With the pet phase of "Just buy it!", many government officials and entrepreneurs became the brand ambassadors and top salespersons of their tourism products by championing them online.

The head of north Xinjiang's Xinyuan county sold local produce worth nearly 500,000 yuan in a livestreaming sales promotion in early April. James Liang, chairman of China's largest online travel agency (OTA) Trip.com Group, has personally put on different costumes to sell discounted hotel bookings. He had staged nine livestreaming sales since late March, with transactions totaling over 300 million yuan.

To minimize contagion risks, many local governments encourage travel to local or nearby tourism spots, with specific ticket discounts and consumption vouchers offered to local residents to boost the regional tourism market.

Regions such as Inner Mongolia autonomous region even made "love your hometown and explore it" the theme of this year's China Tourism Day. Shanghai will leverage the reach of OTAs and social media platforms to help tourists discover more about the city's tourism resources and products.