A forum focusing on Internet plus and big data development in the travel industry was held in Beijing Oct 16-17.

The forum was sponsored by the Beijing International Studies University and Sina and received support from the China National Tourism Administration's information center. It was its second session this year.

More than 400 people attended the event, including tourism government officials, experts and travel companies.

Xin Hongye, deputy director of the tourism administration's information center, delivered a speech on smart travel development, service requirements and marketing innovations for future tourism development.

Experts shared their opinions on development of big data, Microblog marketing and the Internet of Things in tourism development at the forum.

Online rankings of Chinese cities based on tourist opinions in various aspects, such as shopping and eating experiences, were unveiled. They were based on 1.5 million online reviews this year.

The forum also offered a business matching session for travel investors and project organizers.

With the development of the Internet and social media, the tourism big data concept has made inroads into various fields and become an important support for smart travel development.

City rankings:

The top 10 tourism cities in general online public opinions for 2015: Beijing, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, Qingdao, Chengdu, Dali, Xiamen, Huangshan and Hangzhou.

The top 10 cities for sightseeing among netizens for 2015: Chongqing, Beijing, Qingdao, Tianjin, Huangshan, Xi'an, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Dali and Chengdu.

The top 10 cities for food among netizens for 2015: Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Xiamen, Sanya, Qingdao, Shanghai, Chongqing and Hangzhou.

The top 10 cities for shopping among netizens for 2015: Qingdao, Xi'an, Shanghai, Chengdu, Quanzhou, Xiamen, Dunhuang, Beijing, Guangzhou and Sanya.