Booking MICE On The Internet In China

This month's China Hospitality News reader is Kevin Yuan, the project manager of Beijing Impression Marketing and Consultant Company. Yuan is responsible for the company's project management, plan writing, and meeting venue selection.

What do you think of China Hospitality News and its bilingual products? Which columns interested you most and why?
China Hospitality News and its bilingual websites are solid interactive platforms for hotel bookers to make inquiries and acquire tourism information. I am mostly interested in Travel News and Promotions, since from Travel News I can learn about the latest trends of the tourism industry and this will give me new ideas for arranging travel items. With the great deals from each of MICE venues clearly listed, the Promotions column greatly facilitates my work in choosing venues for events and meetings.

We have launched a China MICE hotel meetings facilities search website, 51mice.com, for meeting organizers. What do you think of this website? Do you have any suggestions to make about it? Would you consider using this product when choosing a meeting venue for your company?
The website shows itself as a search platform for professional bookers. It has a brief name that can be easily remembered as well as a clear and definite web design, so it is very convenient to use. Besides, what's offered on the website helps meeting organizers know more about the relevant venues and make a choice in an efficient manner. I think I will use the website in the future.

What are your criteria for choosing a meeting or event venue? Which factor do you think is the most important?
As most of the hotels now have VIP services and luxury decoration, so in addition to the star grade, environment and cost performance, I will pay more attention to the location and transportation in choosing a hotel because this will directly affect the meeting schedule arrangement.

Which companies have you cooperated with and which hotels have you chosen for your events?
We have cooperated with a number of companies including Intel and Beijing Mobile. We have held events in Doubletree by Hilton Beijing, Beijing Longxi Hotspring Resort and Commune by the Great Wall, Kempinski.

What problems have you encountered when using hotel products and services? What suggestions do you have for hotels?
First, some hotels do not provide international standard power adapter plugs or wireless network service in all of their rooms. With the popularization and application of WiFi, I hope these hotels will enhance their infrastructure construction to provide a real sense personalized service to hotel guests.

Second, as there are room rate differences on different hotel reservation websites, sometimes after I make a reservation on two websites and want to cancel one whose price is higher, my request can not be dealt with in a timely manner. I hope that the websites and hotel staff will communicate effectively with each other and make a quick response to bookers' request so their rights will be better protected.

Through which channels do you select hotels or venues for your company events?
Apart from our fixed suppliers, we do so via the Internet.

What do you think of the relationship between travel and fashion? Which domestic hotels have impressed you for being fashionable?
Fashion can enrich a person's aesthetics and taste. Travel is a kind of fashion. Fashion can be popular, but travel will never become obsolete.

The themed rooms offered by The H Hotel Shanghai perfectly combine travel with fashion and demonstrate their relationship thoroughly.

Can you please recommend some travel destinations to our readers?
China: Tibet and Changbai Mountain.
Overseas: Fiji and Canada.

What are your hobbies and which types of travel do you like?
I like sports and music. I will choose FIT or self-driving travel because they make me feel carefree.

Do you have any plans for traveling in the coming months?
Considering the current weather conditions, I plan to go to Southeast Asia.