Stocking up on hotels during Double 11 Shopping Festival has become the new social currency for the middle class

The consumption habits of middle-class families are undergoing subtle changes, especially in the tourism and hotel industries. Stockpiling hotel packages has become a new social trend and a way to save money. This year, many middle-class families have turned their attention to hotel promotions in live broadcasts, seeking to lock in future travel plans at lower prices.

As soon as Double 11 started, Chen Fang, who lives in Shijiazhuang, made a reservation for Li Jiaqi's Super Hot Product Festival hotel promotion. In the live broadcast room, a one-night room voucher for the Shanghai Disney Toy Story Hotel, which usually costs just over 2,000 yuan, was only 999 yuan.

"You earn when you buy it", not to mention that the room voucher of 999 yuan per night also comes with the right to enter Shanghai Disneyland one hour earlier. After all, the price of purchasing Disney Early Access Pass alone is 99 yuan.

In order to take her daughter who is still in kindergarten to check in at Shanghai Disney, Chen Fang entered the live broadcast room before leaving get off work and squatted at her workstation to closely monitor the progress of the product. Before 7 o'clock that day, she quickly grabbed the room voucher, and at the same time, the room voucher in the live broadcast room was also "sold out in seconds". Chen Fang not only became the lucky one who grabbed the room voucher, but also added the red envelope from Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room, and paid 987 yuan for the 999 yuan room voucher.

This year's Double 11, for middle-class people like Chen Fang who have children and houses, the hotel orders received the most during Double 11.

Once upon a time, during the peak tourist season, the middle class would check into hotels that cost three to four thousand or four to five thousand yuan a night without any hesitation. However, they tightened their purse strings and low-cost child care became a trend. The trend of cost-effectiveness spread from Arc'teryx jackets to travel, and "experience a different life with the least amount of money" became a new attitude of the middle-aged people who are thrifty towards travel hotels.

As a result, stocking up on hotels on Double 11 has become a new social currency for middle-class people with kids to send group messages of 99+. Stocking up on Huabei worth 50,000 yuan on Double 11 has also become a new Double 11 achievement for the middle-class to show off in their circle of friends.

"Starting from 2019, and even in 2021 and 2022, I will basically spend all of my 50,000 yuan Huabei credit limit on stocking up on hotels." Wang Zheng, born in the 1990s, told Zimubang (ID: wujicaijing) that he is an ordinary office worker based in Shanghai. Although his monthly salary is nearly 20,000 yuan, he has become accustomed to living frugally after having a daughter. Since Taobao's Fliggy supports Huabei payment and does not need to occupy cash flow, he always stocks up on parent-child room bed coupons for high-end hotels on Double 11, and even cruise trips, Maldives and other foreign travel packages.

"Hotels soar to four or five thousand yuan a night during the peak summer season, but the room vouchers stocked up for Double 11 are worth an average of 1,000 yuan a night. It's really a good deal." Compared to paying a premium for high-end hotels that cost three or four thousand yuan a night before traveling, the truly cost-conscious middle class have already become the big spenders of hotel rooms for Double 11.

For Wang Zheng and others, giving up the face of spending a month's salary to stay in a hotel in exchange for the ultimate cost-effectiveness and the substance of spending every penny in half, "chatting with others about taking children on vacation, showing the hotel reservations stocked in advance in the group complaining about the crazy price of hotels, you can instantly become the center of discussion. As for face, even if you take a step back and say that you only spend half the price to stay in a high-end hotel that costs more than 2,000 yuan a night on weekdays, how can this not be considered a show?"

01

“I didn’t plan to make a guide, but I ended up scrolling through the livestreams until midnight and couldn’t stop.”

On October 22, Zhang Zhen, born in 1989, was a newcomer who just joined the army of Double 11 hotel stockpilers this year. He was originally buying autumn clothes for his two children. After accidentally seeing the live broadcast room of a certain platform for Double 11, he was shocked by the discounts.

The Kaiyuan 3-night room voucher package (including breakfast) with a starting price of 999 yuan and a Marriott Group hotel 2-night room voucher package with a starting price of 588 yuan made Zhang Zhen repeatedly exit and confirm twice in front of the screen. High-end hotels that usually require gritted teeth to buy suddenly have very "affordable" prices. Jinjiang's 2-night package, which can be redeemed in more than 5,000 stores across the country, is only 538 yuan. On the introduction page, Zhang Zhen noticed that even in some stores, the two nights can be split and redeemed, and it also includes breakfast on both days. "At this price, what else do you want?"

As for hotel packages in popular tourist destinations such as Qiandao Lake, Yangshuo, and Sanya, Zhang Zhen had to compete with her speed in every minute. If she was a second slower, the discounted packages would be sold out. "I didn't get the 999 yuan InterContinental package, and I hesitated for 2 seconds when paying for another 1,299 yuan package, and it was sold out." Zhang Zhen was not sleepy at all while squatting in the live broadcast room. The thrill of being slow made her start a crazy shopping mode. She even paid the wrong amount or overpaid several times because she wanted to grab too many packages.

By the time the fierce rush for deals was over, Zhang Zhen had already stocked up on more than 20 hotel packages, spending nearly 20,000 yuan on Huabei. In places like Qiandao Lake and Sanya where she wanted to take her kids, Zhang Zhen stocked up on at least three different hotel packages in one place, not knowing which hotel package was more cost-effective and afraid of missing out on the discounts. "I'll cancel the uneconomical ones and keep only one."

Caption: Bending over a high-end hotel live-streamed on Douyin

Image source: Screenshot of Alphabet Chart

As veterans of stocking up hotels on Double 11, Chen Fang and Wang Zheng were much calmer.

Wang Zheng’s experience of stocking up hotels in the live broadcast room for 3 or 4 consecutive years has given him a hotel promotion price calendar in his mind.

Among several OTA platforms, most hotels on Fliggy start the earliest wave of promotions on March 31 after the year-end promotion period. Some packages are valid for up to a year. Backed by Taobao, Double 11 has become Fliggy's discount season. "If you miss November, there will basically be no such big discounts in the short term."

Although Ctrip participated in Double 11 for the first time this year, it was more like joining in the fun. Ctrip's own promotion festival on September 19 offered significantly greater discounts. As for the newly joined Meituan and Douyin, although Meituan's hotel discounts are usually not strong enough, there will always be low-priced rooms in Meituan's live broadcast room during major promotions, and the prices may be more advantageous. Douyin can also always maintain a price advantage of dozens of yuan lower than the same package.

The participation of platforms such as TikTok and Meituan has led to a rapid expansion of the middle-class army of stockpilers in live broadcast rooms during Double 11.

Chen Fang quickly reduced her stockpiling. Last year, although it was difficult to grab a package, as long as she grabbed one, she could book a room even during the popular May Day and National Day holidays. However, after stockpiling this year, Chen Fang logged in to grab a room immediately, but found that the few major travel days for workers were all fully booked. "I stocked up a lot this year, but most of them were returned."

As of press time, Zizibang checked the Double 11 live broadcast room on the Fliggy platform and found that the Kaiyuan 3-night 999 yuan package that caused a frenzy on the social platform has sold more than 100,000 copies. On the Douyin platform, Huazhuhui Hotel Recommendation has accumulated 1.5 million fans and achieved sales of over one million. During the Double 11 period alone, from October 24, the account maintained a nightly live broadcast. The original price of 1,499 yuan for a two-night room voucher at the Hanting Hotel was 46% off and the price was 678 yuan. High-end hotels, with discounts as low as 30% or 40%, are trying to get a piece of the Double 11 pie.

"Compared to spending 4,000 yuan to go to one place, it is of course better to go to two places with 4,000 yuan." Chen Fang said that compared with spending a month's salary on accommodation and being casual about "going on a whim", stocking up early and budgeting carefully have become the new trend for the middle class to travel with children.

02

When the middle class who have the ability to spend money enters the live broadcast room to stock up on hotels, this two-way race with OTA has actually already begun.

As early as August, Chen Fang saw the live broadcast of Huazhu Club’s official Douyin account on Douyin. At that time, the account had only 500,000 followers, but it broke 3 million GMV on the day of the live broadcast.

Wang Zheng discovered that Ctrip, which never participated in Double 11, also made an exception and not only launched the "Double 11 Ctrip Good Price Festival", but also launched the same "Stock up now, pay later" function as Fliggy, making it convenient to cancel orders after stocking up and making reservations unsuccessful.

According to public data, as of September 2023, 100,000 hotels have opened official accounts on Douyin, with more than 1.5 million people recommending hotels in a single month, and the number of hotel POI stores has increased by 60%.

Many hotel chains such as Huazhu, Jinjiang, and Hilton have been selling hotel room products on the Douyin platform through the form of "live group buying + calendar room". "Hilton, Jinling Hotel, and Banyan Tree are all here, so why not stock up on this Double 11?" Zhang Zhen said excitedly that high-end hotels and homestays that used to be high-end and had room reservations starting at four figures are all offering ultra-low three-digit discounts on Double 11. This has given the middle class, who are becoming more and more cautious about spending money, a sense of surprise that "the flowers are so numerous that they are dazzling."

Amid the craze of live broadcast rooms where people can earn money by hoarding, coupled with the thoughtful "pay later" function, people like Wang Zheng can often hoard 10,000 to 20,000 yuan worth of hotel vouchers in one night.

Caption: The middle class showing off their Double 11 results on social platforms

Image source: Screenshot of Alphabet Chart

Not to mention, high-end hotels that are only interested in increasing their occupancy rates have prepared "more" tricks for users coming from OTA platforms.

In addition to the Shanghai Disney Hotel that Chen Fang managed to grab, which costs 999 yuan per night and comes with the right to enter the park one hour earlier, a package launched by Hyatt Hotel also includes the right to ski at Changbai Mountain. At the same time, Wang Zheng found that by registering in a hotel through a certain platform, one can also enjoy some benefits that are not available when booking directly, such as upgrading the room type, giving away free afternoon tea, etc. Stocking up in advance can not only enjoy the ultimate cost-effectiveness, but also enjoy more benefits than users who book directly.

However, the middle class who go for cheap prices should also be careful about being harvested by OTAs and high-end hotels.

Just as Double 11 has evolved from a huge price cut to a word game of "first raise the price, then lower the price", the middle class who stock up on hotels during Double 11 are increasingly feeling that "Double 11's hotel promotions are sincere but not much."

Take Hyatt Hotels Corporation as an example. The validity period of the two-night room voucher that can be split and includes two breakfasts remains unchanged. The price of Hyatt Place Jingdezhen has increased from 899 yuan in 2022 to 999 yuan in 2024, an increase of 11%. On a certain platform, the Shaoxing Lanting Ahn Luh Hotel has a 2-day, 1-night package for 1,138 yuan in September. The same package on Double 11 is not only priced at 1,888 yuan, but also requires an additional 200 yuan for weekend redemption, and the validity period has even been shortened by 3 months.

Even with the packages she managed to stock up on, Li Ling found that the few holidays she wanted to take her kids on were already fully booked, especially hotels in popular tourist spots like Sanya. "I gave up immediately after seeing the unavailable dates and the dates with surcharges."

03

In fact, when high-end hotels that only target the middle class start to sell off their rooms, the ones that make the most money behind the scenes are the OTAs.

“You can come to our live broadcast room to compare prices.” Under the popular post on the social platform #This year’s Double 11 only stock up on hotels#, a staff member of a four-star hotel made the above comment in a rather “humble” manner.

Under the previous "revenge tourism" craze, the hotel, which was so expensive that it could not be booked at 2,000 yuan a night during the holidays last year, has quietly lowered its prices by two levels on platforms such as Ctrip, Meituan, Fliggy, and Douyin. Now, in order to reduce the vacancy rate, the hotel staff has to "recruit customers" on social platforms. "This year, star-rated hotels are having a hard time."

Take Huazhu Group as an example. In the first half of the year, Huazhu Group's revenue was 11.4 billion yuan, and its net profit attributable to Huazhu Group Co., Ltd. was 1.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 15%. Among them, Huazhu China's net profit attributable to the parent company fell by 9.5% in the first half of the year. In the second quarter, Huazhu China's average daily room rate fell by 2.95% year-on-year, affected by this, RevPAR (mixed average revenue per available room) fell by 2.4%.

Atour, the favorite of the middle class, has the highest average price (441 yuan), but according to public data, the average daily room rate fell by 7.16% in the second quarter, and RevPAR fell by 6.5%.

High-end hotels that are no longer in their glory have to cut costs to survive and increase their exposure on OTA platforms.

According to public data, as of September 2023, 100,000 hotels have opened official accounts on Douyin. Hotel chains such as Huazhu, Jinjiang, and Hilton have all joined the live broadcast. During the National Day holiday, according to Douyin's life service data, the platform's hotel accommodation group purchase orders increased by 205% year-on-year.

On Double 11, the "buy one get one free", the 599 for all seasons and the 999 for Kaiyuan series are enough to dazzle the middle class with tight pockets. In Lujiazui, Shanghai, where every inch of land is valuable, the 359 for two days and one night package at the Regent Hotel makes people say "you'll earn money if you grab it". In popular attractions such as Maoshan Oriental Salt Lake City, the 599 for two days and one night family king room made Zhang Ling impulsively place an order. After all, "the price of 599 is lower than the price of tourist groups on weekdays."

In order to get the lowest price on Double 11, OTA platforms also use the price tracking system to harvest users online. According to Shi Xiang, Meituan has a price tracking system in its backend. Once the system finds that the price on the platform is higher than that on OTA platforms such as Ctrip, it will automatically change the price to the lowest price on the entire network. According to Zi Zi Bang, the hotel category in Ctrip's Zhixing APP will directly compare prices on the page, "Tongcheng xxx yuan, Mo Naer xxx yuan, eLong xxx yuan. The above-mentioned hotel staff also told Zi Zi Bang, "In exchange for traffic subsidies on Douyin, the same package will be dozens to hundreds of yuan cheaper than on other platforms."

During this Double 11, the high-end hotels that rolled up in the live broadcast room also made OTA platforms earn a lot of money.

According to financial report data, Ctrip's net revenue in the second quarter was 12.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14%, and its net profit attributable to shareholders was approximately 3.833 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 507.45%; Meituan's in-store hotel and travel business order volume increased by more than 60% year-on-year; Tongcheng Travel achieved revenue of 4.25 billion yuan in the second quarter, a year-on-year increase of 48.1%, setting a historical high for single-quarter revenue.

However, Wang Zheng told Alphabet List that although he purchased the same package through an APP at a price nearly 100 yuan lower than other OTA platforms, when he actually checked in, he found that his package neither enjoyed the right to upgrade the room type nor was allocated a more remote room location. His friends who used the same package on other platforms not only upgraded their room types but also were allocated better room locations. The secret of the open and covert struggles between OTA platforms seems to be hidden in the settlement of each order.

Wang Zheng was obviously not interested in this year's Double 11. Compared with the enthusiasm of hoarding 50,000 yuan of Huabei in previous years, Wang Zheng only hoarded less than 20,000 yuan of hotel vouchers. He was not in a hurry to cancel the orders in his hands. "There will be another wave of discounts at the end of the year. I will compare several platforms and keep the cheaper one."

If OTAs want to win over the middle class who are becoming more and more capable of managing their daily lives, they may have to work harder on their services.

(Zhang Zhen, Chen Fang, and Wang Zheng are pseudonyms in this article)

Written by: Ma Shuye Edited by: Wang Jing This article is written by the author of Operation Party [Alphabet List], WeChat public account: [Alphabet List], original/authorized to be published on Operation Party, and any reproduction without permission is prohibited.

The title image is from Unsplash, based on the CC0 protocol.