By the end of the first quarter of 2008, China has surpassed the United States of America in terms of the number of netizens, and has become the largest in the world.

Meanwhile, China's tourism industry has developed rapidly. According to the plan for China tourism industry, China is expected to achieve US$53 billion in revenue from international tourism and CNY850 billion in revenue from domestic tourism respectively in 2010 to make its total revenue reach CNY1.27 trillion by then. China is also forecast to have ten million people employed in the tourism industry by the end of the decade. In the light of the statistics from the China National Tourism Administration, the total revenue of China tourism industry in 2007 reached CNY1.09 trillion, breaking CNY1 trillion mark for the first time.

China online travel booking market has developed rapidly. According to the statistics by a comprehensive survey, the number of netizens taking internet as the main channel to get tourism information accounted for 66.7% of China's total, that of netizens who have made a hotel reservation by internet amounted to 70.2% of China's total, that of netizens who have booked air tickets by internet accounted for 70.7% of China's total and that of netizens who have booked holiday products by internet amounted to 20.3% of China's total. With the diversification of online business related to travel, online travel booking service providers have rolled out integrated tourism products, which are becoming more and more popular among netizens. It is expected that more netizens will use online travel booking services. The year of 2007 witnessed a healthy growth in online travel booking market in China, and the market size amounted to CNY2.55 billion, up 65.4% year-on-year. Stimulated by 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as the development of business travel and private travel market, it is forecasted that the online travel market size will reach CNY4.38 billion in 2008, rising 70.9% against a year earlier.

Online travel service providers are playing an increasingly important role in people's travel life, and their revenue proportion to the total of China tourism industry is also gradually increasing. It is forecasted that the revenue of China's online travel service providers will reach CNY5.47 billion in 2010.

Online travel service providers are mainly divided into two categories. One is travel booking websites, providing booking air tickets & hotels and tourist routes as well as service platform. The other is travel information websites, mainly offering travel information and exchange platform. Generally, the revenue of travel booking websites is much larger than travel information websites.

Rank of Travel Booking Websites by Attention, Q4 2007 

 

Source: Statistics Research Center of Baidu, Jan 2008

The travel websites can upgrade the value of traveling and e-commerce and make operations management, tourist service, research and innovation under the background of network create new approach and work flows. Information and services provided by travel websites have become the necessary selection and reference for many travelers before their journey. However, travelers can not rely on websites totally to plan their travel activities and consumption, as these websites are still not prefect in various aspects. The total value of the U.S. online travel market amounted to US$91 billion in 2007, from which we can see the shortage of China's online tourism industry and meanwhile, we can also see it the bright future is foreseeable.  

2. E-commerce Development of China Tourism Industry
2.1 Market Overview and Informatization   
2.2 Overview of E-commerce Development of China's Tourism Industry 

3 Main Websites & Key Listed Companies 
3.1 Ctrip 
3.1.1 Overview 
3.1.2 Profitability Mode 
3.2 17u.net 
3.2.1 Overview 
3.2.2 Profitability Mode 
3.3 Mangocity 
3.3.1 Overview 
3.3.2 Profitability Mode 
3.4 Elong 
3.4.1 Overview 
3.4.2 Profitability Mode 
3.5 China CYTS Tours Holding Co., Ltd  
3.5.1 Overview 
3.5.2 Profitability Mode 
3.6 Emei Shan Tourism Co., Ltd  
3.6.1 Overview 
3.6.2 Profitability Mode 
3.7 Huangshan Tourism Development Co., Ltd
3.7.1 Overview 
3.7.2 Profitability Mode 
3.8 Guilin Tourism Co., Ltd 
3.8.1 Overview 
3.8.2 Profitability Mode 
3.9 Fridayol.com 
3.9.1 Overview 
3.9.2 Profitability Mode 
3.10 cnto.com 
3.10.1 Overview 
3.10.2 Profitability Mode 
3.11 Golden Holiday 
3.11.1 Overview 
3.11.2 Profitability Mode 
3.12 Easytour 
3.12.1 Overview 
3.12.2 Profitability Mode 

4 Conclusions and Viewpoints