The Associated Press reports that Beijing’s summer tourism season has been slow, and hotels and travel agencies are blaming it on tightened visa rules and scarce tickets to Beijing Olympic events. According to the Associated Press some may be reluctant to book trips because “China’s authoritarian government seems more concerned with keeping out foreigners than welcoming them to the Games”.
Since China was awarded the 2008 Summer Games the hotel industry has more than doubled its five-and-four star hotels to 160 hotels.
Several hotel managers also cite soaring prices, which rose artificially when Beijing Olympic organizers reserved 70 per cent of the rooms at the city’s four and five-star hotels in 2005 and 2006. But several months ago organizers released thousands of rooms, dropping their room holdings to 40 per cent.
The average price of a five-star hotel in Beijing range from $560 to $1,150 per night, according to the tourism bureau, but some rates reported were as high as $2,000 per night during the Games. The average price of a four-star hotel is $325.
Also, the number of foreign visitors to Beijing in May dropped by 12.5 per cent from a year ago. The recent earthquake may account for some of the decrease. A slumping world economy, and alarming images of deadly rioting on March 14 in Tibet, followed by “chaotic” pro-Tibet protests on international legs of the torch relay may be other reasons for the decrease, reports the Associated Press.
Those homeowners hoping to lease their houses or apartments to tourists are also disappointed. A manager of a website aimed at overseas Olympic tourists said he had 200 units, but only 20 were reserved. The average price per unit is about $145.
Guo Lingmei, general manager of marketing for BTG Travel in Beijing said tourism will probably remain slow for the entire summer, blaming high hotel prices and difficulty in obtaining tickets to Olympic events.
Some five-star hotels will be in good shape during the Games because they secured reservations from Olympic sponsors of Olympic committee delegations, reports the Associated Press.
