With spring upon us, a number of hotels in Taicang, Jiangsu province, are exploring new business opportunities and cooperating with Shanghai's travel agencies and tourism WeChat platforms to promote themselves.

WeChat has become a popular platform for people access tourism information. Rose Manor, a hotel in the Taicang Modern Agriculture Park, has taken advantage of new media and has cooperated with a number of Shanghai-based WeChat accounts. A WeChat account named "Weekend Hotels" from Shanghai unveiled some travel tips for one-hour self-driving tours during the Qingming Festival (April 4-6). The account recommended a string of holiday hotels, including Taicang’s Rose Manor. The page views of the news amounted to over 10,000.

Rose Manor, which highlighting lower prices and various activities on the account, such as free fishing and a free orchid exhibition, received a warm welcome from Shanghai visitors. The hotel has also been recommended by many other tourism WeChat accounts of Shanghai.

Sheng Hao, sales director of Rose Manor, said that Shanghai has become the main source of tourists for the hotel. Since 2014, the hotel has focused on cooperating with Shanghai's tourism WeChat accounts and launching tourism products in different seasons and festivals, which has proved to be a success.

"During the Qingming Festival, the hotel was fully occupied and 50 percent of the guests were attracted by WeChat. So WeChat has been a new marketing tool for us," said Sheng.

Four Points Sheraton Hotel in the downtown area of the city, has experienced more business opportunities by cooperating with exhibition centers and international travel agencies. When the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) opened in September 2014, the hotel strived to be the reception hotel for the center's first exhibition. Its customized services, including shuttle buses and fast food, won acclaim among the guests.

The hotel also worked with international travel agencies to attract more overseas visitors. According to Wang Yun, the hotel's sales director, the occupancy rate reached 70 percent in March.

Another Taicang-based hotel, Ludu Hotel, has also set its eyes on the Shanghai market. It has invited a number of travel agencies in Shanghai to visit the hotel in preparation for the expected tourism boom when the Shanghai Disney Park opens in 2016. Many travel agencies have shown interest in cooperating with Ludu. In addition, the hotel plans to launch a shuttle bus service to Disney Park to make the hotel stay more attractive and convenient for visitors.

Edited by Jacob Hooson