As busy as he is as a private company owner, 35-year-old Qi Jun is crazy about striking out on his own to enjoy a short vacation in other cities.

Most of the time, he chooses a budget hotel.

"I like the simple style of budget hotels: neat, clean and warm," Qi said. "But more importantly, their prices are quite reasonable."

With the ever-expanding tourism market in China, big hotels like Sheraton, Marriott and Hilton have seen their guest numbers climbing. In the meantime, budget hotels also are emerging with promising business prospects.

U.S. roots

Budget hotels stemmed from the 1980s in the United States, targeting businesspeople from small and medium-sized companies, and enterprising travelers. They are small and medium-sized hotels that provide core services like a room to stay in and breakfast.

The biggest characteristic of the budget hotel is its simplified function. It gets rid of the extravagant lobby of a star-ranked hotel. It doesn't have laundry service, a swimming pool or a gym. The key facilities of a budget hotel include standard guest rooms, parking lots and small dining halls. Only necessities will be maintained in a guest room, which will guarantee a reasonable price and a comfortable living environment. At the same time, budget hotels will make full use of their network to give their guests more conveniences like booking a room at a different place. The clean environment, first-rate service, easy booking and the temptingly low price cater to a large number of travelers like Qi Jun.

"The price of a budget hotel is considerably lower than that of a four- or five-star hotel," Qi said. "The franchise budget hotels are usually priced under 200 yuan per day. If there is a promotion going on, the price can be as low as 99 yuan per day."

Qi said the profit margin of a single budget hotel is not big, but it can win many guests by having the advantages of many rooms in a number of outlets. Meanwhile, they can maintain guests by establishing a membership system.

More conveniently, budget hotels-though not necessarily located at the center of a city-enjoy convenient transportation, with buses going to big business districts and railway stations. It is also one of the reasons why they are welcomed by travelers.

The concept of budget hotels was introduced to China in 2005.

"The Chinese city dwellers, on a large-scale basis, have entered a stage of enjoying more leisure time and traveling," said He Jianmin, a tourism management professor of Shanghai University of Finance & Economics. "However, constrained by their income, they would rather choose clean, cheap hotels with the basic necessities."

Over the past three years, the number of budget hotels has been doubling.

A joint survey of budget hotels conducted by the Ministry of Commerce and China Hotel Association showed that the average growth rate of the top three budget hotel brands (Jinjiang Inn, Home Inn, Motel168) is as high as 90 percent. With the approaching 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, budget hotels are looking forward to a new momentum of growth in the country.