(1888PressRelease)
April 25, 2008 - Tickets and flights to China are in short supply due to limited flights and fewer Olympic event tickets attributed to foreigners. A new terminal to Beijing’s airport, a new stadium and Olympic village, as well as fast paced hotel construction has taken place in order to ease these problems.
However, “There still seems to be quite a few airline tickets available to get to China for the Olympics,” says Liam Clifford, Director of www.globalvisas.com
Beijing expects as many as 1.7 million visitors for the Olympic Games that is due to start in the first week of August. But with almost 100 days to go till the start of the Olympic Games there are still seats available on many international carriers such as Virgin Atlantic and China Eastern.
British Airways, carrying some of the athletes who will compete in the 302 events in 28 sports, is however limited for space because of this.
This general availability may be due to the expense of the trip setting you back around £2000 - the flight itself will however be your greatest expense.
Also of the 6.8 million tickets up for sale for the Olympics, the majority of these are reserved for those living in China. This has caused many to complain that there will not be enough tickets for foreigners, even affecting the ability of athlete’s families from getting tickets.
New visa controls also influence the ease of coming to the Olympic Games. For ordinary tourist visas an airline ticket and hotel reservation printouts are needed by the government when applying for a visa. This permit is only valid for two months as apposed to the previous limit of three months. This has been attributed to the want of the Chinese to control the flood of foreigners entering the country for the Games.
According to www.globalvisas.com applying for a Chinese visa is a necessary requirement for almost all foreign nationals who wish to visit or immigrate to China for any length of time.
There is, nevertheless, high demand for tickets for the Games, even resulting in the ticket booking system crashing when the sales began last year. It is therefore highly doubtful that there will be empty seats in the stadiums as was seen during the Athens Olympics.
The price of the majority of tickets will be half that of what they were in Athens costing just 100 yuan (£7.21) with the idea of allowing as many people as possible to be spectators at the Games.
The Olympic Games will inevitably boost China’s development and make it a more prosperous country, despite current controversy surrounding China and issues around democracy. But it is important that China does not hamper this through strict controls and enforced limits.
If you are interested in partaking as a spectator in these years Olympic Games, visit www.globalvisas.com to find out if you qualify for a permit and start your application process as soon as possible.
###
