Are foreign tourists being scared away from attending Beijing Olympics
June 29, 2008
With just 40 days until the opening of the Beijing Olympics in China it seems that foreign tourists are choosing not to go in the numbers many local hotels and bars were hoping for.
In an article in the Telegraph in Britain David Eimer writes that fewer foreigners are going to Beijing than normal. He is talking about for the Olympics and also last month as visitor numbers were reported to be down by 15 per cent. This was the first drop in three years.
This news is not what the hotel developers want to hear as they have embarked on a huge building program to cash in on what they thought would be an Olympic tourist bonanza.
The article suggests that tourists are being influenced by the bad news coming out of China such as the earthquake in Sichuan province in May and the Tibet situation.
I have also seen many articles that talk about foreigners being deterred by the strict new visa rules. Exactly what these are I don’t really know as I had no problem applying for my visa to visit Beijing or the Olympics.
Bar owners in Beijing are also said to be not feeling good about how business will be during the Cina Olympics. The article says many bars are being forced to close early during the Olympic period due to fears of Muslim extremist attacks.
As a result of all this many of the hotel owners are not going to get the golden cash cow they were expecting. This is actually good for tourists as now the prices will have to come down to more reasonable levels as hotels try to fill empty rooms.
The article mentioned that the Nanjing Great Hotel, which is located near the popular Wangfujing shopping district and is not far from the Forbidden City is offering rooms for 3 000 rmb a night during the Olympic games. This is only three times it usual rate. A member of staff is quoted as saying “We still have 100 rooms left”.
I have searched a few of the hotel sites for rooms during the Olympic period and found many rooms are available for less than three times the usual rate. One hotel that I have personally stayed in before, The Landmark has a room for $147 AUD per night from 12 Aug to 15 Aug.
I used the HotelsCombined website to search for Beijing hotels as it combines results from over 30 hotel booking sites to give you all the information in one place. This saves time when hunting for the best hotel room prices.
Are you thinking of going to Beijing for the games? Or were you originally going but decided not to?
Would like to hear from why you are going or it not, why not. Also grateful if you can share this article.
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