By Xinhua
Beijing : Following the example of their Indian counterparts, tourism authorities here are also looking for households, which can provide rooms for foreign visitors during the Olympics in August.
Xiong Yumei, deputy director of the Beijing Tourist Bureau, said that her department would engage about 1,000 households as “Olympic Family Hotels” to increase the city’s guest room supply for the event.
More than 500,000 overseas visitors are expected during the Games, with the largest daily inflow estimated at 300,000.
According to Xiong, Beijing has 806 star-ranked hotels that have 130,000 rooms with 220,000 beds. Other lodging houses and inns have another 646,000 beds. However, this might not suffice.
“The guest room supply may still fall short of demand, especially for hotels close to the sports venues,” she said.
Xiong informed the media persons that the bureau would choose households’ applications in March. “Families should own the apartments that they plan to offer and be able to provide foreign guests with spare rooms, good ventilation and sanitary conditions,” said Xiong, adding that at least one person in each household should be able to communicate in English.
Home-stays are popular in Western countries but is a relatively new concept in China. Other requirements set by the Beijing Tourist Bureau include changing of bedding, appropriate dressing by household members and a willingness to help guests find their way around the city and the Games.
The charge for home-stays will be $50 to 80 per day, which is said to be less than most of hotels. Xiong said that the price might be adjusted to reflect market fluctuations.
The cost of a five-star hotel room during the Games is forecast to be about 2,960 yuan ($411) per night. For four-star hotels, it is forecast at 2,320 yuan; for three-star rooms, 1,600 yuan and for two-star accommodations, 1,200 yuan.