IN BEIJING - BEIJING'S much-anticipated Olympics tourism boom appears to have all but fizzled out.
Less than half the rooms in the city's 116 four-star hotels have been reserved for the duration of the Games from Aug 8 to 24, official figures released yesterday showed.
About 400,000 to 450,000 foreign tourists are expected to visit the Chinese capital for the sporting extravaganza, hardly a spike from last August's 420,000 visitors, according to the figures released by the Beijing Tourism Administration (BTA).
The government previously estimated that at least two million domestic tourists and 500,000 foreign visitors - including athletes and officials - would turn up.
BTA's update confirmed widespread industry chatter that tightening visa and security restrictions have put a major damper on the travel plans of many would-be visitors.
Terrorist warnings and a barrage of bad news this year - including a freak winter storm, riots in Tibet, and a devastating earthquake in south-western Sichuan province - have also discouraged others from travelling to the mainland.
With just weeks to go before the Games' opening ceremony, observers are not optimistic about a sudden turnaround.
However, at the press conference yesterday, BTA's deputy director Xiong Yumei maintained that the latest figures were 'within our expectations' and said that tourism revenue for the Olympics month should still hit about US$400 million (S$540 million).
Beijing's 46 five-star hotels are 77.6 per cent booked for the period, she noted.
For the rest of the industry's lacklustre reservation rates, she cited several reasons, one of which is that scores of new four- and five-star hotels opened this year.
She added that many mainlanders who have bought tickets for the Olympic events have yet to book their hotel rooms.
Tour agencies and travellers tell a different story. Many have been complaining about the sky-high prices of hotels in Beijing during the Olympics, while others said they had difficulties obtaining tickets to the Games.
In recent months, China has made it much more difficult for foreign visitors to obtain visas to enter the country. Beijing also abruptly suspended visa-free entry for travellers from some countries, including Singapore.
Beijing has defended the tough visa and security measures as being necessary for a 'safe Olympics'.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on July 16, 2008.
