Vision in the stream

Feng is among a growing number of travel-industry players using livestreams to increase interest in destinations to court customers who may arrive after the pandemic.

Chinese travel website Mafengwo says it has recently organized over 10,000 livestreams by travel influencers, agencies and retailers from home and abroad since March. Views increased by 96 percent in May compared with April, and the viewing times increased by 180 percent over April.

"Livestreaming is a new direction for tourism marketing and can be a sustainable business in the industry," says Mafengwo's vice-president, Zheng Xun.

"Video-travel tips are like an upgrade of visitors' demands for travel content, and livestreams are a necessary part. It takes time for customers to decide whether or not to buy a tourism product. So, you need quality livestream content to promote your products."

He says the livestreams offer detailed travel tips. They cover a range of topics like the location of parking lots and how to order local dishes, and viewers can ask questions whenever they like.

"Livestreaming is more direct and true in representing travel experiences," he says.

"You can retouch and edit photos to make them perfect. But during a livestream, viewers watch everything that happens during your trip, such as the scenery outside the car window and some small accidents."

He says the website assists hosts to produce livestreams with good content in ways like helping them pitch topics and design interactions with netizens. For example, a hostess may help netizens seek divine guidance by drawing lots in a Japanese temple.

Feng says it's better to visit the Rongpo Monastery from June to September due to weather. Netizens want to know what to prepare if they plan to visit, like warm down coats, portable oxygen and sunblock.

She suggests travelers check the risk levels of where they're from since Tibet has different measures for visitors from different regions.