The Internet has changed life in China, and the tourism sector is no exception. Online travel services have altered Chinese habits, as people get used to booking flights, reserving hotels, and checking their plans with only a mobile phone.
But the industry has become heated as a result, with hectic competition between firms looking to take advantage of a booming marketplace - and of newly rich tourists eager to explore both China and the world. Ctrip, one of the most successful travel sites, was among the first to successfully integrate data management to offer a wide variety of projects, and its staff commented positively on the convenience brought to tourists by the Internet. Netizens also noted that many well-known sites now provided free - if limited - Internet access in order to provide better information.
Yet there were also complaints that false information was sometimes spread by the tourism industry, and that personal data wasn't adequately protected. Despite this, the attitude of analysts remained positive, noting that online services could improve the imbalanced supply and demand in the national market and allow Chinese to better shift to an era of individual, rather than group, travel. They noted that existing problems would push local governments and firms toward innovation, such as Yunnan Province's recent introduction of diverse cloud services.
Official newspaper People’s Daily stressed that the online travel service is more than the integration of offline tourist resources via online platforms, and said that they should promote the information technology such as releasing timely transportation message and using data to develop the travel industry intelligently.