David Fraser - Executive General Manager, FCm Travel Solutions Greater China

With the 2008 Olympic Games now in full flight and Beijing playing host to more than 5.6 million visitors from around the world, I'm sure you would agree China is an amazing place to be right now. Travel is always dynamic, but we're finding it particularly exciting to be managing our clients' travel needs during this historic event and sharing the Olympics fever with you.

If your company needs to get on with business and undertake travel during or after the Games, here's some insight that may assist you.

During the Olympics
We recommend business travellers continue to avoid non-essential trips to Beijing, not only during the remainder of the Games but until the end of August. This is due to the possibility of public holidays being enforced at the last minute by the Government.

Post-Olympics
The consensus is that the Beijing Olympic Games will have no negative effect on China's economy over the next one to two years, primarily because of the sheer size of our economy and its sustained growth.

With China's huge investment in infrastructure, strong domestic consumption, development of high industries, and hosting of the 2010 World Expo and Asian Games, our travel and tourism sectors will continue to grow. Already we have experienced major benefits, for example:

• we now have access to the new Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport, the largest in the world
• there has been an increase in aircraft serving different national and international routes, as well as the introduction of the Airbus A380
• a number of new Subway lines have come on line prior to the Olympics, with more now under construction (an average journey across Beijing is no more than just 2-3 Renmimbi) 
• there is a growing local presence of internationally branded hotels, such as Marriott, Four Seasons, Shangri-La and Hilton.

Airline bookings
Following the Olympic Games, the volume of airline bookings is still expected to remain high, especially for primary cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao and Hong Kong. The security checks at most airports appear not to be as strict as during the event, however, high levels of security have still been maintained. We are therefore recommending that you continue to book your travel as far in advance as possible to secure seats, and that your travellers allow sufficient time for check-in at airports.

Hotel accommodation
With the sharp rise in hotel development during the lead-up to the Games, and continued development ahead of us, we expect there will be more hotel room nights available to the corporate sector. The increased levels of capacity will drive lower prices and even more room for competitive negotiation.

If you have any questions about this information or about managing your business travel post-Olympics, please don't hesitate to speak with your FCm Travel Manager for advice.

Best wishes,

David Fraser
Executive General Manager, FCm Greater China