China's Visa Policy Threatens Olympic Tourism, Business

China's Restrictive Visa Policy Hurting Beijing's Tourism Business

Hotel operators, travel agencies and foreign businessmen said that "new Chinese visa restrictions are proving bad for business, casting a pall over Beijing during what was supposed to be a busy and jubilant tourist season leading up to the Olympic Games," according to David Barboza of the N.Y. TIMES. Travel business analysts had "forecast that the Games would bring 500,000 foreign visitors and an extra $4.5[B] in revenue to Beijing this summer." But now, "even though some five-star hotels are fully booked for the Olympics, many economists are beginning to doubt the city will get the kind of economic windfall it was hoping for." Chinese authorities "acknowledged putting new visa restrictions in place in May -- after foreign embassies reported fewer visas being granted and tighter, sometimes seemingly arbitrary, restrictions." Many hotels in Beijing are "struggling to find guests; some large travel agencies have temporarily closed branches; and people scheduled to travel [to Beijing] for seminars and conferences are canceling." The Beijing Tourist Bureau noted that with the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics just seven weeks away, "only 44[%] of the rooms in four star hotels and 77[%] of five-star hotel rooms are booked" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/24).

AIR CONTROL: ESPN's "Outside The Lines" Sunday examined the air quality in Beijing that the athletes will face during the Beijing Games. ESPN's Bob Holtzman said the USOC will issue a surgical to "every American athlete and urge them to wear it from the time they arrive here in Beijing to their event."  Holtzman: "American scientists developed a more advanced customized mask that the USOC considers top-secret and doesn't want to talk about." Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau Deputy Dir Du Shaozhong said, "The concentration of main pollutants in the air has decreased greatly compared with this date in 1998." However, Environmental Consultant Steven Andrews said the "air quality hasn't improved at all" ("Outside The Lines," ESPN, 6/22).