Investigation on China Cities' Developments in Business Travel in 2003

As China's leading online travel services provider, eLong.com reserves more than 2100 hotels in over 200 cities across China. The reservation system is supported by advanced database, and provides a credible statistics for the developments in business and tourism in China. During the SARS attack in 2003, eLong's statistic data is employed by relevant state bureau to monitor hotels all over the country. In order to provide valuable references to the city developments in China, eLong has published Top 10 Business Travel Cities in China for three years in succession. The evaluation is based on the statistics of hotels' roomnights in cities from 01/01/2003 to 12/31/2003 by eLong.com.

Eastern China Cities: Booming Business and Tourism

Hanzhou: Hanzhou city keeps moving forward among Top10 and finally listed No.3 in 2003, which is the affects of: 1) The construction and renovation of the West Lake scenic area; 2) The development of dining and entertaining industry in the city; 3) The huge input to solve the problems of traffic jam; 4) The rapid reinforcement of its economic strength.

Suzhou: The rush into Top 10 Business Travel Cities of this reticent city amazed most people. The prompt growth of Suzhou may be attributed to: 1) The maturity of the Suzhou Industrial Park which has attracted many Global 500 enterprises; 2) The impulse from the economic growth of Shanghai; 3) The development of local tourism industry.

Nanjing: Compared with the two cities above, Nanjing still need to complete its municipal infrastructure and take the advantage of Shanghai's rapid development. However, eastern China cities are still the most active elements in China's overall progress.

Southern China Cities: Featuring either Business or Tourism

Yunnan province: As the province that earliest took tourism industry as backbone and being the residential area for most ethnic minorities of China, Yunnan possesses a complicated topography and the most distinct bio-diversities in the country. With many years' efforts, the province has established specific development funds and been keeping improvements on legal systems. The standardization of Yunnan's tourism industry accelerates its internationalization steps, and has cultivated a bundle of world-famous tourism brands such as the Shangri-La, Li Jiang and Stone Forest.

Hainan Province: Hainan has focused its tourism industry on the integration of "Relaxation and Vacation" rather than sole sightseeing. Entitled as the "non-affected area", "eco-island" and "Health island", Hainan has hosted piles of internation events like "Miss World 2003", "Annual conference of Boao Forum for Aisa" etc, which all brought tremendous economic benefits to the island.

Guangxi province: Featuring the picturesque Guilin Landscape, No.1 transnational waterfall in Asia, and the widest Karst topography in the world, Guangxi has attracted more and more tourists from all over the world in the recent years, especially from APEC countries, which has become a new point of economic growth of the province.

Guangdong province: Neighboring the economically developed areas like Hongkong and Macau, Guangdong province has been playing the vanguard of China's economy development since its opening. With the establishment of many special economic areas, the province has attracted investments with its low labor costs and favorable tax policies.

Fujian province: The geological superiority of Fujian resembles to Guangdong province; however, the development of Fujian remains conservative compared with other costal area in the country.

Generally, provinces and autonomous regions in southern China are experiencing developments with more explicit focuses compared with eastern provinces. They follow the route of either tourism or business progress, though with the ultimate goal of economy developments.

Western, Northern and Central China Cities: Move Forward steadily but Slowly

In the recent years, western and northern China provinces like Heilongjiang, Jiin, Liaoning, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, even Hebei have undergone a comparatively slower developments in comparison with their eastern and southern buddies. Tough the unique tourism resources in Xinjiang and Tibet have been longed by world tourists; however, the inconvenient transportation has baffled the people from access. Today, we can only say that the "Western Exploration" may still have a long way to go.

Subtle Changes under the Placid Appearance of Mega-cites

Beijing and Shanghai firmly hold the No.1 and No.2 in the Top 10 Business Travel Cities for the past three years, profiting from the flourish of international business and exhibition events as well as the developments of city sightseeing. The gap between the two cities keeps narrowing due to the speedy growth of Shanghai; however, the 2008 Olympic Game is an invaluable chance for the capital. Also the municipality, Tianjin has gone through a stable but slower progress relatively to the two super cities above. Whereas, the local government has been inputting to infrastructure construction, which is expected to take effects within the next few years.

In conclusion, in the year of 2003, most China cities experienced economy growth at different levels, among which the most remarkable are eastern China cities whose blaze even dims the southern cities including Guangzhou and Shenzhen. However, the capacities to keep the advantages as well as to explore an specific development route are always questions left for China cities to consider.