07 July 2008

Hosting Olympics ââ¬Ëœstalls tourism growthââ¬â¢ - ETOA

Newly built hotels are standing empty in the run-up to the Olympic Games in Beijing, according to reports to the European Tour Operators Association.

With the Olympics in China less than two months away, fewer than half of four-star and less than 80% of five-star Beijing hotel rooms are booked, Beijing Tourist Bureau statistics quoted by ETOA show.

ETOA executive director Tom Jenkins said: ââ¬ÅâœThe principal problem is the impression that everything will be overcrowded and overpriced and this blights a region.ââ¬~

A report from the association claims to reinforce the conclusions of a study published two years ago by ETOA that hosting the Olympics typically stalls tourism growth ââ¬' something that will cause concern to UK tourism leaders preparing for the 2012 Games in London.

Latest data from Greece and Australia suggests that tourism to the host country is harmed even more than to the host city, according to ETOA.

Greece has failed to keep pace with neighbours Croatia and Turkey and the performance gap is widening, with the growth in visitor arrivals trailing that of Turkey by more than 20% a year since the Athens Olympics.

Following the 2000 Olympics, visitors to Australia declined for three years in a row, while tourism to the prime competitor destination, New Zealand continued to grow consistently, ETOA said.

Jenkins pointed out that what has been seen in city after city over the past Olympics are unrealistic expectations, which are ultimately met with real shortfalls in demand.

There is a need on behalf of the sponsors to justify all the money spent on the Games - and they mistakenly reach for tourism as that justification.

ââ¬ÅâœInbound tourists are not the 'pro quo' for all this 'quid',ââ¬~ said Jenkins.

Also, removing visitors from a country has a detrimental effect on subsequent demand. The most important motivator for visitors is word of mouth - this sales mechanism loses momentum as visitors are deterred, ETOA claimed.

by Phil Davies 

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• Why am I not surprised?
  
  

  I know very well that I am not the only person who hates sport and the way it dominates all parts of the media. I would crawl over broken glass to avoid going near to a football match and its attendant violence and disgusting behaviour (from fans and players alike). So far as I am concerned, I would dearly have loved the Olympics to have been awarded to another city - and the further away the better; Atlantis would be grand. Many people (indeed I suspect a majority of people) do not enjoy sport and those tourists who would prefer not to have to negotiate the sports-enthusiast-infested streets, public buildings and public transport will do as will I - stay as far away from the Olympics as possible. ETOA's Tom Jenkins is completely right; I just wish more people realised that, whatever they might be, the Olympics are not a tourist attraction, neither before, during or after the event. And please don't tell me how many sports fans will visit because of the games, unless you also give me reliable figures for the numbers of tourists that will stay away for the same reason.

  By Richard English, Monday, July 7, 2008