Top Three Travel Agencies Involved in E-commerce

The China International Travel Service (CITS) Head Office, the China Travel Service (CTS) and the China Youth Travel Service (CYTS) have got involved in e-commerce in a bid to draw more tourists.

Competition among the top three travel agencies in the country are becoming more fierce, according to tourism authorities.

The CITS Head Office in 1999 booked large numbers of hotel rooms from Huaxia Network Company, involving a total of 200 million yuan (24.1 million U.S. dollars). Huaxia, China's first tourism Internet company, was set up in 1997 with the CITS taking part of the stakes.

Li Lu'an, president of the CITS Head Office, said the number of hotel rooms booked through the network increased by three to four times on a yearly basis in the first half of this year.

Sources say that the CTS will open a website within this month. And the CYTS has also opened a website, www.cytsonline.com, in order to expand business by means of e-commerce

People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/