The 2012 Internet Innovation Marketing Scenic Spot Summit Forum, also known as the second Yangtze River Delta Scenic Spot Supplier Meeting of 17u.cn, was held on Nov 19, 2012. Zhouzhuang online sales once again reached a new record with an income of over 5 million yuan ($802,100) to date.
As a tourism scenic spot, Zhouzhuang is one of the first batch of scenic spots to sell products on Tmall. The online sales – which includes ticketing, lodging and entertainment – offers tourists more convenience and new consumer channels. Sales achieved a turnover of more than 550,000 in the first year.
Zhouzhuang began focusing on its online business this year. The city focused on online tour sales, working together with noted tourism websites and forming strategic partnerships with companies such as 17u.cn. The website, which is deeply rooted in East China, has already produced fruitful results. Zhouzhuang has a very good reputation with online visitors. It has the best feedback rate among all the ancient town scenic spots and was named the “Top 10 Most Popular Independent Tour Destination in 2012” and “Top 10 Most Popular Ancient Town in 2012”. Meanwhile, Zhouzhuang was rated the “Best Cooperative Scenic Spot in 2012” because it was among the top 10 in ticket sales on 17u.cn in East China. During the meeting, delegates from the scenic spot met with Internet companies and well developed e-commerce businesses in order to expand Zhouzhuang’s online tourism products.