The Expansion Of The Tourism & Hospitality Industry In China
The amount of hotels and guest houses in China has quickly increased in the past 10 years. Major cities like Shanghai and Beijing are obviously the ones that have seen the largest increase in the number of both luxury and budget hotels. The Chinese government has invested great amounts of money in the tourism industry in the past decade. Major hotel construction programs greatly increased the number of hotels and guest houses, more historic and scenic spots were renovated and opened to tourists, and professional guides and other service personnel were trained. By 2003, China had some 9,751 hotels (including both Shanghai Hotels and Beijing Hotels) and a burgeoning hospitality industry, much of it joint ventures with foreign companies. In fact, a lot of foreign companies involved in the travel business have understood the great opportunity that lies within China and have set up offices in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing.
In the past few years, the improvement of domestic and international tourist transportation facilities made travel more convenient. A large number of remote cities were opened to external visitors around the mid-1980s. Tourists were required to have valid visas or residence permits to visit 100 locations; the remaining locales required travel permits from public security departments. In 1985 an approximate 1.4 million foreigners have visited China, for both business and leisure. The profit generated by tourism in China attained nearly US$1.3 billion. Beijing was one of the cities that benefited the most out of this number, mainly because of the Olympics. Close to 100% of Beijing Hotels have registered full capacity for the year 2008. A number of additional hotels, both budget and luxury, have been built to be able to respond to the tremendous amount of tourists during that year.
Shanghai is also one of the cities that has seen an enormous increase in inbound travel. It was the largest and most prosperous city in the Far East during the 1930s, and remained the most developed city in Communist China. In the 1990s Shanghai again became a valued destination for tourists worldwide. The Oriental New York, as they named it, has recorded an exponential increase of business investments, both foreign and local, in the past 10 years. The city boasts a wide variety of buildings and structures of various architectural styles. It contains a perfect fusion of Eastern vs Western design. We can notice old traditional monasteries and temples next to high tech skyscrapers. Shanghai Hotels have doubled in the past 20 years. There are two kinds of hotels: Western-style luxury hotels catering to international business travelers, and smaller hotels for local Chinese travelers.
However, the most significant increase was in the number of upscale hotels targeting the high class clientele. A notable number of youth hostels and budget hotels have also appeared to welcome the lower income travelers from the mainland.
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