Since 2020, COVID-19 has hit the world hard, taking a heavy toll on every dimension of people’s life. Inhibited by lockdown, isolation and home quarantine, we had international travel off the cards for the past two years and, by extension, we saw other correlative industries on the rocks, such as accommodation and B&B. Luckily, the pandemic has approached its conclusion by mid 2022, and it’s time for us to pick up the pieces and bring life back on track. In the wake of the economy’s rising from adversity, international travel restarts itself and revenge spending is feeding into it. Mr. ZHUANG Xiaohua, master of the B&B industry, believes that home travelling would go down a storm in the post-pandemic era, and a boom period for international travel and accommodation industry is in the offing.

Mr. ZHUANG Xiaohua is currently the chairman of Turpan BNB Trade Association and Xinjiang Autonomous Region BNB Professional Committee. Pursuing bread and butter, and his dreams also, Mr. ZHUANG began his own B&B business in Xinjiang, North-west China in the 2000’s, among the early birds committed to developing and promoting Xinjiang’s tourism when it was yet to be a popular tourist destination. Despite a humble beginning, Mr. ZHUANG blazed the trail with conviction, and it is his marketing savvy, the giant inventory of innovative solutions together with the enthusiasm that helped his business making good headway. He put his heart and soul into running the B&B, and also took initiative to join forces with the local tourism organizations, which set the tone for his ambition and career well into the future. While it was after a decade when the local tourism and B&B industry hit the big time in Xinjiang, Mr. ZHUANG has already streaked ahead with many constructive and forward-looking programs well underway.

In 2018, ‘Turpan Yanling Chunan International Resort’ at Kumtag Desert kicked off. With a total investment of over 21 hundred million Yuan, it aims to be the most upmarket road trip camp in Xinjiang. Later, there was ”Wuerhe International Cultural Resort”. Located in Urho, Karamay where visitors can discover the plethora of Yardang Landform which is also called ”Devil’s Domain”, it will be the market town providing tourists with immersive experiences of the mind-blowing scenery as well as the cultural fusion of more than ten Chinese ethnic minorities. “Turpan Homestay Culture Innovative Tourism Products Base”, positioned as the cluster of home stay facility in Xinjiang and the garden city synthesis, has got sizable theme parks telling tourists it would be a crime not to feast on the various fruits here in the fruits paradise.

The mini app ‘Hotcare’ also made the debut years ago, and has been serving holiday goers as a treasure box, offering in-depth information widely covering aspects like travel plan, accommodation, transportation, food and local delicacy, shopping, ticket booking etc. As many other groundbreaking projects are on the way, Mr. ZHUANG is glad to have his innovative ideas falling into place and he’s getting a real kick out of contributing to Xinjiang, believing the projects are doing their bits in tapping the local tourism resources, prompting the business, transportation and infrastructure, and also boosting the employment among local residents.

In 2021, Mr. ZHUANG brought his B&B business internationally. REALSPACE TRAVEL, one of his businesses, launched global B&B cooperation ‘Whale Herd Program’. It is a B&B and camp product supply, in partnership with tourism and B&B businesses throughout different international travel destinations, and sets the sites on offering delicate and standardized management for the booking and daily operation. As icing on the cake, the B&B and camps in ‘Whale Herd Program’ shoulder tasks to speak for the local culture and traditional customs. Intrigued with the abundant tourism resources and great potential in Canada and Australia, Mr. ZHUANG has got the Program dabbling in these two countries already.

The idea of ‘Whale Herd Program’ was born early before the pandemic, but it was expedited to action last year when the global economy and international travel were brought to their knees and crying for revival. Regional development has never been absent from tourism development, and it is also the case that the upturn of tourism and accommodation businesses oil the wheels of regional development. They breathe new life into the region by bringing into better land use planning, ever-improving infrastructure, well-organized health and education services, and strong job prospects stimulating general well-being.

The past two years overshadowed by the pandemic has been dawning on Mr. ZHUANG that mankind is in a community with a shared future, and thus he’s keen to put forward the idea that we should waste no time setting the stage for reviving tourism since it is very much a core to economy and regional development. There’s no getting around the fact that tourism and accommodation businesses need ringing changes with innovative solutions, retrieving holiday makers’ confidence and enthusiasm in international travel. For good measure, it would make a difference if tourism gets coupled with other sectors. While aligning efforts across different industries, they are exposed to far more resources, easier to identify opportunities and to leverage private and public sector investment to the regions.

Mr. ZHUANG’s ‘Whale Herd Program’ will positively open the door to innovation and cooperation, in running the B&B and camps services and in advancing the local culture of Canada and Australia. Blessed with vast territory and massive natural resources, Canada and Australia possess huge treasury of tourism. That said, the prosperity for their tourism industry is still in the making with many resources and regions are waiting for further exploitation. Mr. ZHUANG gives his pieces of advice, “Many remote areas in the two countries which are currently considered to be out in the middle of nowhere by tourists, can turn into a picturesque getaway by proper development. Like British Columbia in Canada, densely distributed with criss-cross waterways and virgin forests, and also the Northern Territory, richest in the wildlife species in Australia, can benefit from travels featured with rural discovery. Likewise, Ontario in Canada and Ngurrara in Western Australia might want to make strong use of their unique aboriginal cultures.” Comprehensive tourism development alleviates regional uneven development, improving the livability and prosperity of the region and revitalizing its economy as it emerges from the COVID-19.

The world will embrace a whole new ball game after the pandemic with many things up in the air, but it is out of question that re-energizing the economy and engaging in regional development will be the main topics in the many years to come, while innovation as well as solidarity is to be the leading forces as ever.