Baodi: Building a new paradigm of cultural tourism and homestays with local IPs

A core proposition stands before every culture-and-tourism practitioner: on a piece of land teeming with vitality, how do you break out of the old logic of “copying scenery,” and transform it into a commercial civilization that can be grown, spread, and deepened over time?When rocket launches become routine, the value of a guesthouse is more than “one room”**

Against the backdrop of China’s national space strategy moving deeper and a continuous upgrade in cultural and tourism consumption, Chengmai? Wait—Hainan Wenchang is positioned at a uniquely pivotal crossroads of development: on one side is the space launch that embodies the nation’s awe and aspiration; on the other is the South Seas cultural thread stretching back thousands of years, along with the coastal bustle of everyday life. On one side are the era-defining winds of opportunity drawing widespread attention, and on the other is a quiet and bountiful local routine.

Such land is destined not to give birth to ordinary guesthouses only—it will also nurture a new tourism-and-leisure species that can redefine both life and business.

Baodi is the answer that naturally grows from this land.

Most visitors treat Wenchang as a rocket-launch photo spot, and view the guesthouse as a temporary stopover. In Baodi’s view, if a guesthouse only focuses on receiving guests, it will ultimately fall into a homogeneous price war. Baodi’s original intention has never been just “receiving one batch of guests,” but building an underlying logic that can solve the industry’s pain points.

“Baodi model”: from “making money with a single store” to a “replicable ecosystem”

In Baodi’s founders’ view, Baodi has not only passion, but also a replicable, practical model.

If it’s just a single shop that makes money, that’s business. But if you want to build a brand that can be replicated across the country, that’s a model.

Baodi’s core competitive advantage lies in constructing a complete commercial logic—from a single store to an ecosystem—so that the guesthouse is no longer an isolated accommodation product, but the central carrier of regional culture and tourism. This model is broken down into five dimensions, forming sustainable growth “business genes”:

Light-asset platforming, to solidify the skeletal structure for brand expansion. Baodi doesn’t rely on heavy-asset land acquisition to expand; instead, it ensures that every Baodi guesthouse has consistent visual aesthetics, service procedures, content production capability, channel operation methods, and team management standards by exporting systems such as the brand, standards, operations, and traffic. This not only allows quality and warmth to be sustained, but also lays the foundation for large-scale, standardized brand development.

A closed-loop of local experiences, activating the “flesh and blood” of tourism consumption. Baodi steps out of single formats such as accommodation and coffee, deeply transforming Wenchang’s culture and everyday life into products that people can actively participate in: from following fishermen out to sea to catch fish and go shell-collecting along the shore, experiencing original fishermen’s labor; to strolling through the old streets lined with arcade walkways in front of the shops, touching the century-old vicissitudes of a hometown of overseas Chinese, and tasting non-heritage糟粕醋?—no, keep exact content: “non-heritage” is translated; the original phrase is “非遗糟粕醋,” so translate as “intangible-heritage cuopao vinegar”; from going deep into the coconut grove in the eastern suburbs to learn about picking coconuts and making coconut products, to taking part in temple prayers at Confucian temples, intangible-heritage block printing, and coconut carving workshops—we build a complete experience chain centered on “stay—dine—get around—tour—shop—be entertained,” so that every visitor can truly immerse themselves in daily life in Wenchang.

Content storytelling power, shaping the brand’s soul. In a time when traffic acquisition costs are soaring, blunt advertising has long since lost its effectiveness. Only real, nuanced, and warm content can genuinely move people. Drawing on the natural media DNA of the team behind it, Baodi has built a self-media account rooted in Hainan’s local culture, “Baodi 1992.” Using the camera to record coconut grove coffee, coastal sunsets, rocket launches, and everyday life with human warmth, each service moment and each encounter is transformed into content that can be shared and resonate with others. Currently, “Baodi 1992” has accumulated tens of millions of views, continuously driving traffic to Wenchang. This kind of content is not contrived marketing—it flows naturally like life itself, allowing the brand to form deep resonance in users’ hearts.

Community and retention, strengthening the backbone of brand development. Baodi always treats guests as friends who will journey alongside them for the long term, not as passersby of one-time consumption. From careful communication before check-in, to attentive companionship during the stay, and to lasting connections after guests leave, Baodi turns traffic into “retained traffic” through service, and converts customers into true brand friends. From users’ authentic reviews, it’s clear that no matter whether it’s family trips, solo travel, or parent-child getaways, Baodi receives perfect scores: some visitors say the room upgrade from the hosts’ thoughtful service made them feel they “hit the jackpot,” families traveling with kids praise it as “a treasure guesthouse that’s perfect for bringing children,” and even self-driving travelers acknowledge “cleanliness beyond expectations, with not a speck of dust on the floors.” These real responses are the best proof of Baodi’s community reputation.

Data-driven fine operations, building a solid brand foundation. In an industry filled with emotion and warmth, Baodi remains rational and precise: it monitors every user review, analyzes every guest’s needs, and uses data to optimize service details. Based on user feedback, Baodi continues to iterate its services. For guests interested in watching rocket launches, it prepares items like binoculars in advance; for parent-child groups, it creates private swimming pools and children’s leisure areas; for self-driving travelers, it provides convenient parking; for people with travel difficulties, it offers pickup and drop-off services, and so on—improving the experience through details and safeguarding quality with professionalism.

Starting from Wenchang, Baodi launches a full-domain journey in culture and tourism

The core of the Baodi model can be summarized as: using a regionally distinctive IP as a traffic anchor; using mixed-use formats as the commercial skeleton; using light-asset joint ventures as the expansion path; using fine operations and content storytelling as the growth engine; and ultimately building a full-domain lifestyle brand that is replicable, full of warmth, and valuable.

The wind of Wenchang blows toward the future.

Rooted in the local place, with content as its wings, and built on the foundation of its model—going forward, Baodi will not be satisfied with taking root only in Wenchang. It will replicate this model onto more lands with unique charm, make “Baodi” a new benchmark for regional culture-and-tourism lifestyle, and help more culture-and-tourism practitioners and travelers understand: travel is not only about getting from place to place; a guesthouse is not only a place to stay. The ultimate value of culture and tourism is an awakening about life.