Hong Kong - China can expect a post-Olympics boom in visitor numbers from some of the millions who were dazzled watching the Beijing games on TV, a survey released in Hong Kong indicated Thursday. The survey of audiences in 16 worldwide markets found that while 45 per cent of viewers intended to one day visit China before the games started, 51 per cent said they would visit after seeing the closing ceremony.
Meanwhile, the number of viewers saying they had no interest in visiting China dropped from one third to around one quarter between the opening and closing ceremonies.
At the end of the games, 86 per cent of people in Hong Kong and Singapore said they intended to visit China, followed by 80 per cent of people in India and 72 per cent of people in Mexico.
The survey by market research firm Nielsen, involving almost 26,000 interviews, found that seven out of 10 viewers found Beijing more modern and hi-tech than they expected.
The survey's findings will provide comfort to many Beijing hoteliers who saw bookings fall during the August games because of stringent visa restrictions that kept normal summer visitors away.
