In most cases when a country is hosting a major event like the Olympics there is an expected boast to the country’s tourism sector. However it seems this has not been the case with China. Apparently the Olympic Games is proving to be a turn-off for travellers, leading many hotels and airlines to slash their prices to try and lure last minute visitors to Beijing.
About 2 million tourists were expected to flock to the Chinese capital for the Olympics which start on August 8, but the city’s tourism authority says visistors numbers are down 20 percent on last year.
With many hotels remaining empty, their are reports that some airlines and hoteliers have dropped their prices by more than 50 percent. In February, Air China was charging £1,200 for a return flight and now the price has gone down to £503.
It’s thought people are staying away because of security fears, fears over pollution, visa problems, China’s handling of the Tibet situation and the bite of the credit crunch are also being blamed.
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I believe they would have received more visitors had the truly cleaned the place up instead of sweeping the filth under the rug and if they had treated the people a bit more humanly.
Plus their athletes are forced to participate and they are still just children and most will have no future after the Olympics because they spend all their time training and no attention has been placed on their education.
It is unfortunate how that communist country is run,those poor people.
I agree with you Debo…they could have handled the political situation better. Plus pollution also seems to be one major problem in Beijing that has been talked about over and over again.