Shanghai is awaiting approval of mainland China’s first Disneyland, and the theme park could be (this is far from definite) built on an island in the Yangtze River

A Shanghai city spokeswoman, who like many Chinese officials refused to give her name, said Shanghai was waiting for approval of the project by the central government. She would not comment further.

Walt Disney, which has set up office in Shanghai, has repeatedly emphasized that for now it is focusing on developing its theme park in Hong Kong, which opened in 2005 and, in truth, is not doing nearly as well as Disney would wish..

Disney Asia-Pacific spokeswoman Alannah Goss said, ‘China is a priority for the entire company. We have a continuing dialogue about a variety of Disney initiatives, including television, motion pictures and consumer products, of which theme parks are only a part.’

Perhaps. Possibly. Maybe.

The state-run magazine Oriental Outlook said in this week’s online edition residents have been moved off farmland in Chuansha, a part of Shanghai’s Pudong district near the city’s main international airport, to make way for a 6-square-kilometer tract along the city’s airport expressway.

The magazine quoted local economic committee official Qian Weizhong as saying, ‘Once we have central government approval and a concrete plan and Shanghai Disneyland can begin construction right away.’

The park would be built after 2010.

But will it make money? Probably not at the prices Disney likes to charge. Hong Kong Disneyland charges between US$37-$45 a ticket. So the people instead go to Ocean Park which is enjoying the highest attendance in its 30-year history. And you do not have to take the ferry to get there.

It’s about to get worse for HK Disneyland because nearly half of all visitors come from the mainland. Open a Disneyland on the mainland and you have lost a lot of visitors.
Source: The China Post

The number of overseas visitors to Beijing reached 3.2 million in the first nine months of this year, up 12.6% from a year earlier.

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics said in a statement that the figure breaks down into 2.8 million foreign tourists, up 14%, and 400,000 tourists from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, up 4.1%.

The United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea remain the three largest sources of overseas tourists to Beijing, with the numbers standing at 444,000, 435,000 and 341,000 respectively, up 19.4%, 22% and 7%.

It is thought that ‘Olympic factors’ have mainly boosted the tourism growth. The amount of publicity that Beijing is getting in the foreign press is unparalleled.

More visitors are expected to come to Beijing next year when the games actually happen.

According to BOCOG, which is running the games, China will host 280,000 athletes, referees, journalists and other workers from more than 200 countries and regions.

The official estimate is that about five million overseas tourists and more than 120 million domestic travelers will visit Beijing in 2008.
Source: China View

By 2020, China will replace traditional tourist destinations, and rank as the world’s first, according to one somewhat optimistic analysis. Others are more cautious but there is little doubt that China will, for the foreseeable future, remain permanently in the top five of world tourist destinations.

Chinese tourist officials are even more optimistic. Perhaps this massive optimism could be put down to the Olympics and Expo effect.

Shao Qiwei, director of the State Tourism Bureau and seen here, said that by as early as 2015, China will become the world’s largest country welcoming tourists, and the fourth largest source of outbound tourists.

Possibly. Perhaps. Maybe.
Source: People’s Daily Online

The resort, hotel and spa operator Banyan Tree has signed on a new property in Shanghai. Banyan announced that it had secured the management of a new exclusive waterfront boutique hotel on one of the last available waterfront sites along the Shanghai Bund. The hotel is scheduled to open in 2010.

Banyan Tree has recently announced five projects in China, including two new city hotels in Beijing.

Interestingly it already has spa presence in Shanghai at The Westin on the Bund.
Source: ChannelNews Asia

Consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels is of the opinion the outlook is rosy for the hotel market in Beijing and Shanghai in the next two years, with the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 Shanghai World Expo just around the corner. This is a conclusion that has been universally accepted. However, the consultancy has put some figures on it.

Andreas Flaig, executive vice-president of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, expects the number of rooms at internationally branded hotels in Shanghai to grow 76% to 33,000 by 2010, while Beijing’s total will more than double to 27,000 by 2009.

About 27,000 branded hotel rooms will be rolled out in Shanghai this year, 8,240 of which will be new.

Many world-class hotels are in the pipeline for the two cities. A 190-room Four Seasons hotel will be opened in Shanghai’s Pudong District next year, while a Mandarin Oriental hotel with 203 rooms is also scheduled to open in 2008 in Beijing’s Chaoyang District.

Andreas Flaig said the vibrant economy and tourism industry of the two cities is creating strong demand for the hospitality sector that could be sustained well into the next decade.

In Beijing, last year, five-star hotels achieved the highest RevPAR (revenue per available room) since 1994. RevPAR for the first six months of the year has outperformed the same period in 2006. A similar pattern was observed in the four-star segment. What will happen during the Olympic Games will be a massive spike. What will be interesting is if a small hotel recession follows the end of the games.
Source: China Daily