Eye on business

Italian explorer Marco Polo is well-known for his adventures in China. And now, nearly 700 years later, the Hong Kong-based luxury hotel group bearing the same name, is hoping its focus on China will bring it the same renown.

Last year, hotel businesses around the world were hit hard by the financial crisis, but Marco Polo's properties in China, which mainly serve Asian business travelers, saw a big increase in domestic bookings.

"I think the big economic stimulus package of the Chinese government led to the holding of several trade fairs and business conventions," says Henk Meyknecht, area general manager for China of Marco Polo Hotels and general manger of the Marco Polo Parkside Hotel in Beijing.