Danwei quoted earlier an entry in a newsletter by Access Asia, bearing the hallmarks of Chinabiz Speaker Paul French, where he wondered who would actually visit the Beijing Olympics. Unlike Paul, I have at least one friend who is very sure he will be there, but I must admit, that is not enough to fill a stadium.
So, I was a bit surprised when I noted a headline by the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf announcing that almost all flights to Beijing for the Olympics in 2008 were sold out already. The Dutch are mostly pretty serious about planning their holidays and most households would have reached an agreement about their summer destination by Christmas. But one year ahead? Was here a hype brewing I had been missing?
The article itself showed the explanation. Almost all tickets to Beijing, about 6,000, have been bought for the Dutch Olympic Committee and related organizations. So, no hype, only a terrible shortage of flight tickets is developing. I do expect a similar pattern in other European countries. Even if European enthusiasts might want to come to China in that period, there are not enough tickets. Expansion of the flight capacity is hardly possible, so Beijing might have another problem in getting European to the Olympics. They cannot come, unless they arrive a month earlier.
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