Yunnan's holiday boom sparks labor demand

KUNMING — A resort in Yunnan has placed several ads lately in its quest to fill 40 vacancies for positions such as ticket sellers, hotel receptionists and shuttle bus drivers.

Since the Spring Festival holiday, the Taipinghu resort — one of the province's top tourist destinations — in Mile city has witnessed a marked increase in visitors, said Hou Zhipeng, deputy general manager of the resort. "Considering the need for labor over the course of the year, we are now clearly understaffed," he added.

The resort initiated its recruitment drive as Yunnan undergoes a continued rebound in tourism, resulting in increasing demand for workers.

It recorded 45.15 million tourist visits during the Spring Festival holiday, up 244.7 percent year-on-year, according to the provincial culture and tourism department.

Holiday tourism revenue reached 38.44 billion yuan ($5.66 billion), an increase of 249.4 percent year-on-year.

About 500 kilometers from Taipinghu, a renowned tourist site in Pu'er city, where the remains of an important section of the Ancient Tea Horse Road are located, posted a job ad for guides on Feb 3.

In under a day, it received a flood of phone calls asking about the vacancies. "Thanks to the China-Laos Railway, we are receiving an increasing number of visitors, especially during the Spring Festival holiday. The rise in tourist traffic added greatly to the demand for labor," said a female employee surnamed Zhang, who is in charge of recruiting.

The 1,035-km China-Laos Railway connects Kunming, capital of Yunnan, with the Laotian capital Vientiane.

Miao Liwei, a homestay operator in Lijiang old town, experienced a similar challenge. Since early January, he has posted two job ads.

Miao, who runs three homestays with 58 rooms, said that all of them had been fully booked for Spring Festival.

"Customer service representatives have struggled recently to handle the influx of inquiries, despite working 24 hours a day in two shifts," Miao said.

There were 1.36 million tourist visits to Lijiang during the seven-day holiday this year, compared with 1.37 million in the same period in 2019.

Following the revival in tourism, a number of homestays, hotels and eateries in the old town are hiring, with former employees now returning to the sector.

The hiring boom indicates that Yunnan's tourism market has been boosted, and that the sector is staging a vigorous recovery, said an official from the provincial culture and tourism department.

Xinhua