Spaniard launches startup to show Beijing’s hidden gems
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E-mail China Daily, July 29, 2016
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Visitors walk the hotongs with Beijing Hutong Trips.(Photo provided to China Daily) |
However, no one said starting a business is easy, especially for an expat. Casellas started promoting the tours through WeChat, an instant message app, through expanding networks in chat groups and spreading the words among expat groups.
"The Beijing expat community is still relatively small. Luckily for us, most expats that we came across are friendly and helpful," he said.
According to Casellas, owning a start-up business means he needs to juggle between expanding networks for potential business cooperation and digging for more unique content to interest customers.
"We cooperate with bars, restaurants, hotels and cultural institutions to do collaborations, " Casellas said. "We have held craft beer brewery tours where we lead people and hop around hutongs for cold brews. We also had a rice wine party in a unique restaurant where random people showed up to join."
Riding on the wave of "mass entrepreneurship and innovation", more individuals' need to fulfill their career goals are getting more and better policy and social support.
According to a list of "Best cities for start-up businesses in Chinese mainland 2016" issued by Biaozhunpaiming, Tencent Research Institute and UR Work, Beijing is the best place for individuals to pursue the goal of owning a business.
Based on three criteria- popularity, policy environment and intelligent support - Beijing tops the list with the highest score 96.448, almost 36 points higher than the second runner-up Shanghai.
"It seems like everyone around me is starting to do something on their own", said Zhang Wenhan, a 29-year-old white-collar worker who is also an Airbnb host.
"It's so easy to utilize apps and social media to start a small business, and people with the same minds can connect and share our resources and stories," Zhang said.
Casellas also noted the convenience the Internet has brought in a sharing economy era.
"I sent out 150 emails once on a website where people rent out their places. I got many friendly responses; some hosts even brought me customers," he said.
"A host who brought me customers owns a 500-square-meter courtyard, ancient and beautiful. I plan to make her place a stop on my tour, so this can also bring her potential business if anyone on my tour wants to experience local living instead of staying in a hotel," he said.
According to the China Tourism Academy, China saw first time growth in inbound tourism over the last three years in 2015. Last year, 133 million foreign visitors came to China, a four percent growth year on year.
"We plan to grow big, and explore all possibilities on the hospitality chain, and beyond," Casellas said.
