Beijing hotels slash rates ahead of Olympics

BEIJING, China (AP) -- Some hotels in Beijing have cut their rates by as much as 30 percent as expected high demand for the Olympic Games has not materialized, a travel agent said Tuesday.

Fan Runjun, an employee of the press department of popular travel Web site Ctrip.com, said many two- to four-star hotels have cut their rates by 10 percent to 20 percent compared to May and June. Some have cut rates by up to 30 percent, she said.

The Web site's English-language section deals with about 500 hotels.

Beijing was expecting 500,000 foreign guests for the August 8-24 Olympics, but has been scaling back that estimate. Some people have been scared off by high prices, while others have had trouble getting visas.

China has ratcheted up security for the games, tightening visa rules even for foreign travelers who hold Olympics tickets. Multiple-entry visas have also been restricted, causing a drop in business travel.

The government has said the games are a target of terrorism, and reported breaking up plots to attack the games by Islamic radicals in the western province of Xinjiang.

In a show of force, China's military has stationed a ground-to-air missile battery just 300 yards (273 meters) from one Beijing Olympic venue.

A man surnamed Wu from the China Hotel Management Association, who was unwilling to give his full name or position as is common in China, said most three-star hotels or below were cutting prices because occupancy rates were not as high as expected.

"The three-star hotels and those below might have seen the Olympics as a good opportunity to raise rates, and now that they found there aren't enough guests booking their rooms, they have to cut their prices," he said.

Most Olympic hotels that have been approved by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee are four- or five- star, he said, and their rooms have already been booked.

Those hotels cater to Olympic officials, sponsors and national Olympic delegations. Their prices were set last year, by negotiation, rather than by market demand, he said.

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