Positioning

The comparative analysis of the lakeside destinations around the Taihu Lake and the SWOT-analysis showed that

  • Taihu Bay area is not in a position to compete with Suzhou and Wuxi in regard to cultural and natural resources and due to the lack of unique features, a USP for the area has to be created;
  • Suzhou has positioned itself as a cultural destination in the market place and is already well-known for its cultural assets;
  • Wuxi has a competitive edge over other destinations around the lake based on the scenic landscape and natural resources;
  • Huzhou lacks strong cultural and natural resources, but has been able to market itself as the place for extreme sports and thus has positioned itself as such thanks to the strong marketing campaigns and the cooperation with Hong Kong based marketing company;
  • The main purpose of travel to Suzhou and Wuxi is sightseeing and these destinations might have difficulties to shift from the sightseeing market segment to holiday and leisure market segment due to their strong connotation to traditional sightseeing;
  • Business tourism to Changzhou is stronger than to the other destinations around the lake. Business travel is supported by the number of foreign funded companies in the city. Thus, Taihu Bay area should take full advantage of the presence of business and meeting travelers in the city and target those high-yield tourists; and
  • There are very few holiday resorts with international standard facilities, services and managements in the area. As a matter of fact, in most of the operational resorts management has proved to be the key factor either to success or to failure. This provides an opportunity for the Taihu Bay to develop a holiday resort area at international standard.
  • Since the study area is big enough to accommodate various types of tourism developments and recreational activities, the area is able to offer something for business, leisure, and sightseeing tourism and for recreation purposes.

Thus, the Taihu Bay area should be developed to be a first-rate lakeside resort and recreational area, first of its kind in China, developed and managed at international standards, aimed at middle and high-end class consumers and businesses in the Yangtze River Delta area.
 
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