Qianjiang Evening News·Hour News Correspondent Hu Yihong
The epidemic has lasted for more than two years, and the B&B industry has been under tremendous pressure. On the one hand, there are fewer tourists, many rooms are empty and their income is limited; on the other hand, the funds spent on decoration in the early stage are far away, but other daily rents, wages and other expenses cannot be arrears. Faced with the extremely low room rate, many homestay owners chose to quit. How can we help these B&B owners? Zhejiang Commercial Bank Hangzhou Branch has been looking for answers.
A B&B management company in Hangzhou mainly engages in B&B and catering services and other businesses. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, business has plummeted. B&Bs that invested heavily in decoration before the epidemic have now become their biggest burden.
It is understood that the company mainly has two homestays, one of which has more than 20 buildings and more than 170 rooms, with an area of more than 4,000 square meters. There are two B&Bs in the other place, with 13 rooms and more than 700 square meters. The B&B also involves entertainment and catering business and is positioned as a mid-to-high-end customer base. The company's total investment in two homestays exceeded 50 million yuan over the years.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the company's operating conditions have continued to decline. In 2021, the company's average annual opening rate was only 50%, and operating pressure surged. In September of that year, the company applied for mortgage and provincial guaranteed loans from Zhejiang Commercial Bank Hangzhou Chengxi Branch to alleviate financial pressure. Zhejiang Commercial Bank promptly issued a loan of 8.6 million yuan to it based on the customer's situation, helping the company overcome the difficulties in a short period of time.
After entering 2022, epidemics in Hangzhou and surrounding areas occur from time to time, especially in Shanghai, which directly led to a rapid decline in passenger flow, serious vacancy in rooms, and the life of enterprises is becoming more and more difficult. At this time, the Chengxi Branch of Zhejiang Commercial Bank was actively implementing the interest reduction and exemption policy issued by the head office to support the real economy through epidemic relief, so it contacted the company as soon as possible and applied for interest reduction and exemption for it.
It is understood that the company applied for loans at four banks at that time, and Zhejiang Commercial Bank was the first bank to propose a interest rate cut. In mid-June this year, the branch formulated a plan to postpone the repayment of principal and interest based on the operation of the company, so that the funds can be left in the company for a longer period of time, further alleviating the financial pressure of the company.
It is worth mentioning that since the China Branch Association and the China Banking Association jointly proposed to reduce the payment fees for small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households, as of the end of August 2022, the Hangzhou Branch of Zhejiang Commercial Bank paid processing fees for small and micro enterprises, individual industrial and commercial households and other market entities exceeded 1.12 million, benefiting 51,207 customers.
Relevant staff of Zhejiang Commercial Bank Hangzhou Branch introduced that since this year, Zhejiang Commercial Bank Hangzhou Branch has actively responded to the "Implementation Plan for Zhejiang Province to Implement a Pack of Policies and Measures for Solid and Steady Economy" issued by the Provincial Government, focusing on industries that are particularly affected by the epidemic such as tourism and homestays, and doing their best to provide corresponding financial support and services to enterprises. The epidemic is ruthless and people are kind, and we gather strength to help move forward. I believe that with the efforts of many parties, the cold winter of the epidemic will always pass, and the homestay industry will usher in a new spring.
This article is an original work of Qianjiang Evening News. Reproduction, copying, excerpting, rewriting, and online dissemination are prohibited without permission. Otherwise, this newspaper will pursue legal liability for the infringer through judicial channels.
