Beijing hotels and tour operators are starting to feel the pinch from the drop in tourist numbers with just over a month to go before the Beijing Olympics. China is making it more difficult to obtain visas for foreign tourists and business people in an attempt to keep out trouble makers and terrorists. The problem is that it is affecting regular visitors to China as well.

“We are not full at the moment, and we have rooms to fill,” said Anthony Ha, general manager of the newly opened Marriott Courtyard Beijing Northeast. “There’s not much time left, and we have a way to go.”

Two years ago it was a different story when hotels in Beijing were planning to raise their prices by more than 50 per cent.

Apartment owners across Beijing were also looking to cash in by renting out their apartment or spare room. Some apartment owners even terminated their current tenant’s contracts just before the Olympics, in the hope they could make a killing renting it to Olympic spectators.

“We don’t have what we’ve expected,” said Song Zhi, manager of a Web site aimed at overseas Olympic tourists. “There’re not even many people making inquires about pricing. We had expected a peak in June, but that peak has yet to come.”