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| 29 November 2007 | Hong Kong | | | Visa Survey Shows Strong Support for the Beijing Olympic Games Investment | | | Games seen to provide great financial and economic benefits for China | |
People in China are confident that the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games investment will bring great financial and economic benefit to China as well as leave visitors impressed with the country’s infrastructure, according to the most recent Visa International survey of Chinese attitudes toward the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games[1].
In the October survey, three-quarters of those surveyed strongly agreed that the Olympics would provide great financial and economic benefits to China (up from 68 percent in July), and 72 percent believed that the Games would leave visitors with a favourable impression of China’s infrastructure (up from 66 percent in July) [2].
James Dixon, Country Manager, Hong Kong and Macau, Visa International said: "The findings are excellent news for both China and its source markets for tourism. They tell us that people in China believe that the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is a worthwhile investment by the Chinese government, and they see that investment continuing to pay returns in the future.”
The Chinese Government is spending more than US$2 billion[3] in preparation for the Games, upgrading infrastructure, improving services and building major new sporting facilities.
With the rise in tourists and the tourism economy in China, respondents also highlighted the upgrading of financial and payment infrastructure as particularly important, with 73 percent of those surveyed saying that the payment system infrastructure must allow tourists to pay in the way to which they are accustomed.
According to Dixon, travellers coming to China will expect convenient and easy-to-use electronic payments: “As people from around the world come together in China for the Beijing Olympic Games, it will be vital that they are able to pay for goods and services with the same convenience and security that they would have in their home markets. Travellers expect a strong payment infrastructure, including ATM access and swift, secure international credit and debit card transactions to meet their basic needs.”
There is also the belief among three out of four respondents that Beijing will remain a key tourist destination long after the Games are over. This is supported by such independent findings by organizations such as the World Tourism Organization which believes China will be the number one tourism destination by 2014.
These new survey findings mean more than just good news for China: continued confidence and a strong Chinese economy will also benefit its key partners in the region, including Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia Australia and Thailand.[4]
“Beijing 2008 has been called China’s coming out party, but I think it is important to remember just how many regional economies this will touch. China is a strong trading partner with key markets across Asia Pacific; a vibrant, confident economy in China should provide benefits for other markets as well,” said Dixon.
[1]Between July and October 2007, TNS conducted 1,600 door-to-door interviews on behalf of Visa with people aged between 20 and 45 from tier one cities in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen), in an effort to measure attitudes toward the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. All respondents had bank accounts and a monthly household income of at least RMB1,250. In October, 300 people responded to the survey. [2]In this survey, respondents were asked to answer questions on a scale of 1 – 10, with lower numbers indicating disagreement, and higher numbers indicating agreement. Respondents who selected options 1-3 were deemed to strongly disagree with that statement; respondents who selected options 8-10 were seen to strongly agree with that statement. | | | |
About Visa:
Visa operates the world’s largest retail electronic payments network providing processing services and payment product platforms. This includes consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are offered under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world and Visa/PLUS is one of the world's largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than 170 countries.
For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.
| | For further information please contact:
Ketchum Hong KongCynthia Chan / Thomas Kwan
Tel: +852 3141 8199 / +852 3141 8090
Email: cynthia.chan@knprhk.com / thomas.kwan@knprhk.com
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