myguideTravel Blog

Olympic hype hits Beijing hoteliers

August 7th, 2008

With the Olympics set to opening tomorrow in Beijing on 08/08/08, China is prepared to welcome the world to its capital city and with it, showcase modern China. Despite the debate over whether the Olympics should have been awarded to China due to its less than stellar human rights record, there was much preparation for the expected massive numbers of visitors. Most of it has gone well and everything should be ready for the opening ceremonies, including the peculiar looking National Stadium, even though there are still persistent smog problems.

Nevertheless, not everyone is relieved. Luxury hotels, in particular, are worried that their multi-million dollar investments may not see the expected guest levels hoped for when a wave of new buildings were planned. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal describes the current situation in a pithy manner: Beijing now boasts over 50 five star hotels, up from less than 20 in 2003.  The fight for qualified hotel staff, especially for the kitchen, is also very competitive. In fact, the report indicates that, as often is suspected, the Olympics are doing very little to boost tourism to the city, so the fight for guests is also an issue.

Regardless of such poor news, most hotels are taking a long view on Beijing, and are planning on robust growth for the mid to long term. Here’s hoping that they their forecasting is accurate. Anyhow, in the short term, there are plenty of great deals on luxury hotels in Beijing and that is something to consider for those of you planning a trip to the Middle Kingdom.

Entry Filed under: Travel