Rural homestays（民宿）have become the fastest-growing part in the bed-and-breakfast market since the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled by travelers who seek a more relaxing, pleasant and experiential lifestyle that is close to nature, a recent report found.
Tujia, a domestic online homestay service provider, said there are nearly 800, 000 domestic rural homestays available online nationwide. Most people who took rural trips are urbanites（都市人），and most of them come from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou of Guangdong province, Chengdu of Sichuan province and Chongqing.
Among those who booked rural homestays, more than 60 percent of the total were born in the 1980s and 1990s. Now, the booking volume of rural homestays accounts for about 40 percent of the total short-term rentals compared with 30 percent before the pandemic, according to Tujia.
Zhou Cheng, a 33-year-old rural homestay operator, has been involved in the business for more than a decade. In 2010, he started operating a rural homestay in Lijiang, Yunnan province in Southwest China, and annual income was about 200, 000 yuan (S30, 500), which is less than one-tenth of his current annual income.
That revenue（收益）accounts for 60 percent to 70 percent of the total revenue． Most travelers stay for two days and one night， and their total spending on catering（餐饮）and accommodation together is around 2, 000 yuan per person. At his homestay business, there are 13 employees in total. All of them are local villagers and their monthly income is around 4, 000 yuan per person, Zhou said.
The development of rural homestays has changed the trend of previous one-day tours to suburbs into more in-depth trips. In the long term, the potential room for future growth of rural tourism and rural homestays is remarkable, with the backing of favorable policies related to the revitalization of rural areas.
A. He witnessed（见证）the fast growth of the domestic bed-and-breakfast sector.
B. Besides accommodations, catering services are also provided to customers.
C. These urbanites have driven the rapid growth of rural homestays.
D. In 2021, the booking volume of rural homestays in Beijing increased by 10 percent year-on-year, and revenue jumped 38 percent year-on-year.
E. An effective way to increase consumption is to convince travelers to stay overnight.
F. Consumers' frequent short trips to suburban areas have driven the growth of rural homestays.
G. Tourists can have more in-depth trip experiences and improve the quality of their trips.
