This article published this last week on Yahoo, entitled Olympics could be a bust for Beijing hotels, confirms many of my predictions:

China has spent a reported $40 billion on new infrastructure and stunning venues, hoping to impress visitors with a modern city when the games begin Aug. 8. But the lack of reservations could shake the city’s hotel industry, which has more than doubled its five- and four-star hotels offerings to 160 since Beijing was awarded the Olympics seven years ago.

Ha declined to reveal his hotel’s occupancy rate, but he expressed concern over a report last month from the Beijing Tourism Bureau that showed five-star hotels were 77 percent booked, and four stars were at 44 percent.

Well, the occupancy rate was higher than I’d heard, but still not great when you consider,

Some five-star hotels are in good shape — at least during the Olympics — because they secured reservations from Olympic sponsors or Olympic committee delegations.

[…]

“They need to come, and they have no choice to turn back now,” Sander said. “They have put so much money down, they cannot draw back.”

Even all the greedy apartment owners are finding themselves not only without sky high Olympics rentals, but with no tenants at all.

In response to questions about visas,

“Beijingers will enthusiastically welcome foreign tourists,” said Zhang Huiguang, director of the Beijing Tourism Bureau. “But for terrorists and troublemakers, we’ll unite and fight against them.”

I like the use of the term ‘troublemakers.’ China is openly acknowledging they’re not just worried about terrorists but also about protecting their image. As such,

Students have been targeted too, because the government fears they might side with political activists if protests erupt during the games.

Anyway, just read the article, and if you have Olympics tickets (or know someone who does) but aren’t going to use them, I’m already here and I’m happy to buy them from you!