Beijing hotels benefit from Olympics

Beijing hotels have been hauling in some big profits thanks to the Olympics.

Hotel prices have always surged during the Olympics in the host cities. Overwhelming demand has put hotel owners in a strong position to ask for higher prices.

A review from the advisory firm Deloitte shows that on the Games' opening night in Beijing, revenue per available room in the city's hotels jumped by 500 percent from the same period a year ago, to nearly 400 US dollars. In addition, occupancy reached 86 percent. The city's top-rated hotels received about 74 thousand guests on August 8th, split evenly between domestic tourists and those from overseas.

The review said the two nights following the opening night also saw strong growth in terms of occupancy and average room rates. The review projected more days like these during the remainder of the Games, which closes on Sunday.

After seven years of planning and billions of investment, it is clear that the Olympics has been a great success, not least for the city's hotels.

The Beijing Tourism Bureau is primarily responsible for supervising the quality of hotels in the city. Officials there say tourists who are in the capital for the Olympics have definitely gotten their money's worth.