Ready to rise and shine

The town has 427 minsu, all of which had hired additional staff and purchased extra food to prepare for Spring Festival, when the occupancy rate was expected to be over 95 percent, he says.

On Jan 25, the town was closed to tourists, and over 12,000 visitors were evacuated within 24 hours.

He estimates the town's minsu have since lost over 300 million yuan, and the losses for other tourism industries like catering and shopping are even bigger.

"The greatest difficulty for us is the economic loss from closing and our human-resource loss. Our staff members are having a holiday, and whether they can return to work soon is subject to the epidemic situations in their respective hometowns," he says.

The central government has released preferential policies like tax reductions for small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed businesspeople in various industries.

Major travel companies have also helped tourism businesses, including home-sharing platforms, through subsidies and preferential policies.

Airbnb China recently announced that it's using a $10 million fund to support hosts over the next few years, among other beneficial measures.

They encourage hosts to rent out their listings by week or month, and offer online training to help them redesign their accommodations and learn about marketing during the epidemic.