Broad Future For Wuhan's Business Travel Market

The general manager of CITS Wuhan Company Inbound Tourism Center, Hu Yanhua, says Wuhan is now attracting more international and domestic companies to invest in Wuhan and set up offices there.

This is as a result of Wuhan being named as one of China's central cities by the national government. The China International Medical Equipment Fair and the Conference on Overseas Chinese Pioneering and Developing in China are held in Wuhan. And touring expos about medicine, automobiles, food, and home appliances also choose Wuhan as one stop. The new expo center in Hanyang New District will soon be completed and will be able to undertake more international conferences and exhibitions.

In recent years, CITS Wuhan Company Inbound Tourism Center has undertaken many activities including Pfizer's global CEO business meeting, Deutsche Bank training sessions, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Nanjing Branch annual meeting, Dongfeng Citroen C-5 launch, China Aviation News training session, and Goldman Sachs business investigation. Wuhan Jin Jiang International Hotel, Howard Johnson Pearl Plaza Wuhan, Renaissance Wuhan Hotel, and Holiday Inn Riverside Wuhan are long-term partners of the company.

Hu and her team held the strategic development annual meeting of a Fortune 500 company. A five-star hotel was the first choice for the venue, because the facilities and services could ensure the smooth process of the meeting. Transport and the surrounding environment are also important elements when choosing a proper venue.

Basically Hu will check three aspects of a hotel venue. First, the surroundings and supporting facilities of a hotel. An on-site investigation will be needed to see if the venue has easy access to the airport and the company. The meeting facilities also need inspecting including size of meeting rooms, capacity for different setups, the standard of the audio-visual equipment, and the degree of sound insulation. An efficient and professional meeting team providing support and service to an event would be perfect. The parking lot and vehicle scheduling are also very important.

Second, guestrooms of the hotel. Room service is important especially for some large-scale meetings and events lasting for several days. For example, there should be enough rooms of different types to satisfy the needs of different guests for a meeting or an event. Reservation, check-in, check-out, and cancellations, the use of the room, the payment method, and which credit cards are accepted by the hotel, all should be checked when choosing a venue.

The third aspect is the food and beverage of a hotel. For coffee breaks during meetings, Hu will check the variety, quantity, price, service time and setup. For dinner, Hu will mainly check the service, the menu, price, table setups, and if there are enough waiters and waitresses during the busiest times.

For guests who want to enjoy a view of the Yangtze River Hu suggests choosing Howard Johnson Pearl Plaza Wuhan which has a revolving restaurant. The hotel can establish a team to follow up related things based on the size of a meeting or event. Full communication will be made with the organizer before the activity, and a contingency plan will also be made in advance. The team provides professional service to organizers. In addition the hotel has wonderful food and beverage offerings featuring both western cuisine and local food. Its design is elegant and fashionable: with the considerate service it is a home away from home for all guests.

Wuhan Jin Jiang International Hotel is the hotel most often used by Hu Yanhua. The hotel features a good location with convenient transport. And the ballroom is one of the most unique ballrooms in Wuhan with an elegant design and modern equipment. Hu organized the one-week China Municipal Engineering Conference in this ballroom. She mentioned that the hotel had prepared free gifts for guests as part of its turndown service.