Beijing resort rolls out welcome mat as city authorities act to boost spending

The tourism industry in Beijing is gradually recovering as outbreaks of COVID-19 are well contained and the municipal government takes measures to boost consumption.

Universal Beijing Resort, which first opened in September, resumed operations on June 25 after being closed for nearly two months due to the outbreaks.

After the reopening date was announced, the number of searches for the resort on the online tour platform Ctrip soared by 242 percent compared with the same period the previous month. Reservations for hotels within 5 kilometers of the resort rose by 30 percent.

Chen Miao, a 30-year-old company clerk in Beijing who had already visited the resort twice, was quick to make a third trip when it resumed business.

"I experience new feelings every time I come here. I needed a place to relax after working from home for a month without much entertainment. The resort is definitely my first choice," she said.

To welcome guests, the resort introduced new features, including five life-size 3D-printed dinosaurs from the movie Jurassic World 3 and hotel rooms themed on the Minion characters from the Despicable Me movies. These features have attracted countless fans.

Universal CityWalk Beijing, two hotels and the Universal Studios Beijing theme park are also located at the resort.

Although the venue strengthened epidemic control and prevention measures for its reopening, no delays have been reported by visitors.

Zhou Yixiang, manager of the resort's emergency management and command center, said 22 mass temperature screening locations have been set up, along with more than 80 ID and health code check facilities.

Visitors must provide a negative nucleic acid test result, while advance bookings are required for the resort and hotels.

Beijing is just one of the cities in China that have recently rolled out measures to boost a consumption recovery.

To encourage tourist spending, Beijing plans to issue up to 30 million yuan ($4.46 million) worth of coupons for accommodations in suburban areas. The coupons will be valid from this month to late September, according to the city's cultural and tourism bureau.

Liu Bin, deputy head of the bureau, said, "We hope that people will travel more often to the suburbs during the summer vacation to experience local history, culture and folk customs by using these coupons."

To encourage spending, more activities will be staged in the capital, including car-purchasing promotions and food fairs.