China ready to compete in next big event: Tourism
— -- The 2008 Olympics are coming to an end, but the reflected glory of the Games that also functioned as a two-week commercial for China has tourism promoters hoping they can parlay the exposure into bookings.
"It's the expectation of most of the suppliers that all this visibility that China is getting is going to make Asia as a destination seem more knowable and more reachable than it has in the past," says John Riggin of Partner Concepts, a marketing firm that promotes travel to the region.
China already had ramped up tourism promotion efforts in anticipation of the Olympics and experienced a 10% increase last year in U.S. visitors. In the first half of this year, the numbers rose another 5%. And some U.S. tour operators are launching their 2009 marketing campaigns early to take advantage of Olympics fever.
But hosting the Games doesn't guarantee a tourism boom after the Games. A 2006 survey by the European Tour Operators Association revealed that since 1988, host nations have suffered what it called a "post-Olympic blight."
Australia's tourist totals dropped for three consecutive years after the 2000 Games even as travel to New Zealand increased. Travel to Greece hasn't kept pace with neighboring countries since the 2004 Games in Athens, a recent update to the report shows.
But many U.S. tour operators are confident China will avoid a similar fate given its exoticism and relative affordability, at least compared with Europe, where the sagging dollar is giving American travelers a nasty bout of sticker shock.
"Most of those Olympic host cities had a tendency to increase prices," says Pista Nadj of Ritz Tours, a major U.S. operator to China. "They thought everyone was going to rush in, but their expectations were unrealistic. The situation in China is different."
Namely, a hotel building boom has created a competitive market. In Beijing, an estimated 13,000 new rooms were in play at the start of the Games. Nadj calls prices "affordable" if not exactly "bargain."
For example, the company's 10-day China Discovery tour with stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an starts at $1,899 and includes airfare from the West Coast, five-star hotels and most meals. General Tours World Travel is offering an eight-day privately guided trip to Beijing and Hong Kong starting at $1,584, plus international airfare.
As foreign tourism to China grows, offerings are becoming more sophisticated, traveler purveyors say.
"The maturity of China as a destination is bringing new approaches to tourism," says Bob Drumm, president of General Tours, which has been operating in the country for 28 years.
A new all-suites touring train owned by the luxury Kempinski hotel group starts operation in March between Beijing and Lhasa, Tibet, traversing the 17,000-foot Tangula Pass, the highest railway pass in the Himalayas. General Tours sells the 14-day trip, including seven nights on the train and accommodations in Beijing and Hong Kong, for prices starting at $8,000, plus airfare. China Wine Tours has a 10-day itinerary that takes in wineries in addition to standard attractions such as the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi'an. Prices start at $3,199, including airfare from Los Angeles.
Despite pre-Olympics media coverage that focused on the devastating Szechuan earthquake, human rights and Beijing's poor air quality, the overall portrayal of China since the Games began has been more flattering.
"Everything has run smoothly. No one's talking about the air quality anymore," Nadj says. "There've been hours and hours of coverage on NBC, and it's all positive. Reporters are raving about the hospitality of the people and the beauty of the country.
"And we hope that will translate into increased interest."
E-mail jeclark@usatoday.com