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Beijing expects tourism boom

By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-19 09:02

China needs to take training and recruitment measures in advance of the forecast post-Olympics surge in tourism, a human resource report said.

Beijing and Shanghai will each need 500,000 trained hotel staff by 2010 to serve the millions of overseas tourists expected to pour into the country for sightseeing and international conferences, the Beijing Foreign Enterprises Service Co Ltd (FESCO) said in its recently released report.

At least 10,000 sports management professionals and 7,000 trainers will also be needed this year to meet the Chinese public's renewed interest in physical training and sports generally, the report said.

"These rising demands are attributable to the ongoing Olympic Games, which have stimulated local interest in sports as well as making China an even more popular travel destination for the next two to three years," Li Yiguang, Assistant General Manager and Director of recruitment department with FESCO, said.

Sports events brokers, personal trainers, experienced tour guides and tourism marketing professionals will be hot job market items later this year, he added.

The Olympic games' influence on the host country's economy, particularly its tourism and sports, usually "lasts for a decade", professional consultant Hao Jian was quoted as saying in the Guangzhou Daily.

This optimistic forecast has prompted certain overseas study agents to recommend colleges in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Australia specializing in hotel and tourism management courses, the Beijing Times reported.

Market demands for media and telecommunications professionals, on the other hand, will decline after the Olympic games, the FESCO report said.

"But the games have enhanced both the quantity and quality of professionals in these sectors," FESCO's Li Yiguang said.

The post-Olympics slump in demand for construction, security and service sector workers is also expected to last for two to three years, the report said.

Special measures taken to lessen city traffic since July have caused reduced recruitment in logistics companies and factories, Zhang Jianguo, president of ChinaHR.com, an online job-seeking platform website, said, adding that blue-collar workers are the most affected group.