Beijing's Great Expectations Encounter Stunning Disappointments -- Visa
limits undermine Beijing's tourism hopes

International Herald Tribune

Visa limits undermine Beijing's tourism hopes

By David Barboza
Friday, June 20, 2008

BEIJING: The plush lobby of the Kerry Center Hotel in Beijing is usually
crowded with foreign guests this time of year, most of them lounging in
Centro, a hip bar, listening to jazz and sipping martinis, or queuing up
in the taxi line after power dinners at the Horizon restaurant.

But Thursday evening, Centro had only a sprinkling of guests in a hotel
whose occupancy rate is typically close to 100 percent during this time
of the year. Tonight, the duty manager said after tapping a few computer
keys, it stood at just 63 percent.

"I really don't know what happened," said Sun Yin, the duty manager.
"Something strange has been going on."