"Homestays Plus": Creating a New Living Space

Rural homestays are undoubtedly an invention of modern urbanites, and a fashionable product that meets the leisure and vacation needs of current urban residents under extremely prosperous material and cultural living conditions. Since homestays are established in relatively underdeveloped rural areas, there will inevitably be collisions between old and new cultures, ideas, and consciousness, which will lead to a series of upgrades and iterations in forms and formats, from ancient to modern, from vulgar to refined, from rural to urban, from food to lodging, from mass to high-end, from local specialty to cultural and creative products.

Development stages of homestays - from individual to cluster to integrated homestays

Looking back at homestays in China, they have experienced a leapfrog development in both quantity and quality over the past decade, evolving from 1.0 era farmhouse-style bed and breakfasts (B&Bs), 2.0 era youth hostels and guesthouses, 3.0 era premium boutique homestays for leisure travelers, to the current 4.0 era, which emphasizes personalized products and high-end experiences.

In the budding period (1.0 era), homestays appeared first in economically developed coastal areas. At that time, the concept of "homestays" simply referred to farmers renting out part of their living quarters to tourists as accommodation facilities.

During the transitional period (2.0 era), with the improvement of people's consumption levels, many people began to enjoy staying in summer resorts and vacation villas. Owners of these properties began to learn hotel management skills and upgrade their facilities to include standard rooms, air conditioning, and showers. This marked a clear distinction between 2.0 era homestays and the earlier 1.0 era farmhouse B&Bs. Many family-run guesthouses also emerged during this stage, converting idle houses into accommodations for tourists.

In the high-speed development period (3.0 era) after 2007, the middle class became the main consumer group for homestays in China. They had higher requirements for the quality of their accommodation, were more likely to take vacations than business trips, and needed periodic family vacation activities. These demands led to the development of high-end homestays in China, with Yunnan and Zhejiang being key areas.

The rise of social media platforms such as Weibo in 2009 and WeChat in 2011 accelerated the spread of word-of-mouth recommendations for homestays. This, coupled with the emergence of a group of popular Internet celebrities, contributed to the growth of large-scale homestay clusters in many areas, particularly the Moganshan area of Zhejiang province and the Yemaoling area of Pujiang county.

In the current 4.0 era, homestays are no longer limited to traditional architectural forms. They not only embody local cultural characteristics but also reflect artistic refinement. The buildings are more environmentally friendly, and location selection requirements are becoming increasingly strict. Homestays in this era will incorporate many artistic design elements, offering personalized products and high-end experiences that appeal to people's curiosity.

Homestays in the 4.0 era combine the features of the 3.0 era, providing a vacation art experience that expands horizons and focuses on spiritual growth. With the promotion of "all-for-one tourism" in China, homestays will be deeply integrated with downstream industries such as scenic spots, catering, leisure, socializing, health, and elderly care, forming an ecological park for the industry. In the future, the fusion of multiple scenarios under the "homestays plus" model will become more prevalent and extend to fields such as study tours, cultural and creative products, sightseeing agriculture, and even technology, creating multi-scenario, multi-theme, and multi-group development and application.

Typical examples: Yellow River Suji Homestay Cluster.




The concept of integrated homestays (suji)

Integrated homestays, or suji, are a new type of accommodation concept that is not simply a grouping of several individual homestays, but rather a homestay cluster created by several homestay brands working together. Through resource integration, activating industry formats, and reshaping local culture, suji can activate historical heritage and natural landscapes from different perspectives, forming a cluster effect greater than the sum of its parts. This makes suji a high-quality homestay cluster with strong cohesion.

The small scale of individual homestays limits their ability to leverage government resources. However, the resource integration, brand aggregation, market linkage sales force, and special support services of suji make it possible to create an entire industrial chain and overcome the bottleneck of homestay expansion and chain development. Suji reduces the risk of homestay development while achieving resource sharing and maximizing benefits.

For example, the Yellow River Suji integrates five top-end homestay brands: Feinao Collection, Xipo, Xuli Wilderness, DaLe Zhiye, and South Bank, positioning itself as China's most high-end resort destination. Homestay clusters also create many non-guest room content ecosystems, breaking through the revenue ceiling of homestays through secondary consumption markets and creating a fusion business format for homestay clusters.

Homestays as an effective entry point for rural tourism

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Developing rural tourism based on rich red cultural resources and green ecological resources, and revitalizing rural economies, is a good practice for reviving rural areas." As an effective entry point for developing rural tourism, rural homestays have great potential.

Homestays and rural areas are closely linked. As homestays become the entry point for rural revitalization, they can attract more young people back to rural areas, redirecting urban tourists to rural areas, revitalizing the countryside and creating a new urban-rural interaction. Homestays, as the intermediary link, not only bring in more homestay tourists but also drive non-standard homestay tourism groups, promoting cross-industry events.

The development of rural homestays corresponds to modern people's pursuit of getting away from the hustle and bustle, getting close to nature, and exploring nostalgia, playing a pivotal role in promoting rural tourism.

Attracting Strong Investment, Nurturing Excellence, Creating Buzz, and Shaping the Soul of Homestays

Homestays are a sub-category of the traditional accommodation industry, with low entry barriers and high homogeneity. Regulatory authorities can consider introducing mid- to high-end brands and exploring local characteristics to promote industry standardization while breaking the deadlock of investor protection through the use of external mid- to high-end brands. By leveraging these brands, local homestay operators can improve their products and service concepts, promoting healthy competition and further enhancing regional advantages. Cooperation with domestic and international renowned homestay creative agencies, operating and management institutions, and marketing planning agencies should also be strengthened to attract precise investment and brand partnerships, focusing on developing a group of premium homestays with nationwide influence.

To nurture excellence, it is essential to guide homestays towards becoming refined, high-quality, and high-end. We should focus on cultivating rural homestay tourism destinations and demonstration sites, boosting local tourism economic development, and satisfying the demands of high-end consumers for quality and premium travel experiences. The enterprise leaders should drive resident self-employment development, promote the clustering development of homestays and tourism industries based on the utilization of local idle resources, and form homestay industry clusters to increase market share.

In creating buzz, innovative promotional methods and diverse channels should be employed to tell the story of homestays, advance homestay brand internationalization and image building. Leveraging high-quality influencing resources and professional marketing or operation institutions in the homestay field, we should establish dedicated homestay promotion agencies, fully utilizing big data, artificial intelligence, cloud services, and other technological means to plan and implement mobile internet-based strategies, expand regional brand influence, and enhance market visibility.

The soul of homestays lies in culture. Uniqueness and attraction stem from distinct cultural features. Regarded as one of the most sentimental tourism investment projects, homestays will lose their essence if they neglect deep-rooted, authentic culture. A distinct cultural feature can effectively enhance the added value of homestay products and enrich consumer experience. In developing the homestay economy, we should not only comply with national standards but also create local landmarks by thoroughly examining local resources, digging into cultural connotations, and realizing "cultural presentation." We should increase awareness of cultural integration in planning and design, architectural design, functional design, visual design, appearance design, color design, business format planning, service design, and industrial chain expansion. Top-notch design concepts and architectural presentations, rich humanistic activities, and more refined services can promote differentiated homestay development, explore suitable ways to integrate colorful regional cultures into homestays' details, and enhance the overall homestay experience. Additionally, we should actively introduce creative talents with relevant experiences, deeply excavate regional characteristics, develop customized services for each node, and further showcase local culture, charm, and unique features.




Collaboration

Efforts should be made to support key industries and extended industries related to the development of the homestay economy, such as leisure agriculture, forestry, fisheries, health maintenance, culture, transportation, commerce, logistics, etc. We should cultivate a batch of "homestay+" integrated economic formats, develop "homestay+ experience," "homestay+ specialty products," "homestay+ exhibition," and "homestay+ cultural creativity," etc., increase the proportion of non-accommodation revenue in homestay revenue, inject new vitality into premium homestays, and improve the economic benefits of the homestay industry.