Jul 8, 2008
September is shaping us as the best possible time in years to visit China -- that's how bad the post-Olympics slump is predicted to be
A British website read by travel professionals -- TravelMole (www.travelmole.com) -- is filled with dire predictions about how bad things will be in China when the Olympics have ended (August 24). The country is full of new hotels that haven't really been marketed for the post-Olympics period. And making things worse is a phenomenon that no one really understands: the fact that, historically, cities and countries hosting the Olympic games enjoy diminished tourism in the immediate aftermath of that event.
Says the European Tour Operators Association, as quoted in TravelMole:
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Says the European Tour Operators Association, as quoted in TravelMole:
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... 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.So contact: China Focus (www.chinafocustravel.com), Chinaspree.com (www.chinaspree.com), RIM-PAC International (www.rim-pac.com), Ritz Tours (www.ritztours.com), Pacific Delight Tours (www.pacificdelighttours.com), smarTours (www.smartours.com), and all the other specialists to China -- and book an immediate trip! China will never again be as cheap, nor will its hoteliers be as frantic to greet you.
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.
[W]hat has been seen in city after city over the past Olympics are unrealistic expectations, which are ultimately met with real shortfalls in demand.
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Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
