Beijing Olympics’ Leaves a Lasting Legacy on Chinese Tourism
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The Chinese national government spent more than 40 billion dollars on the recent Beijing Olympics, a sport event which spanned just two weeks and mobilized the entire nation’s energies.After any event of such enormous proportions successfully comes to a close a range of questions relating to its effect on the future are bound to arise.
Are Chinese feeling more cosmopolitan now than before and will this impact on how they travel? Have they more confidence to travel abroad knowing how well their country’s athletes performed on the international stage?
Did the Olympics stimulate more demand for sports themed tours and holidays both at home and abroad? Does the rest of the world have a better understanding of China now and is more likely to visit? Will the Olympic Village become the latest white elephant or find a sustainable use?
These issues will be addressed in keynote speeches and panel discussions at ‘China-the Future of Travel’, the WTM-ChinaContact forum on November 12 in World Travel Market, Excel, and London.
Experienced experts including tourism officials, academics and private sector professionals will look at the events of the past year and their short and long term effects on tourism to and from China.
The international media seemed to admire China’s logistical performance in staging the Games while criticizing some of the measures that were taken to ensure a smooth run.
