mr.x
Jun 20, 2008, 7:26 PM
Canada's Beijing pavilion fails to draw crowd
Despite a prime location and spectacular façade, Olympic-year investment has barely 200 visitors a day
GEOFFREY YORK
From Friday's Globe and Mail
June 20, 2008 at 2:51 AM EDT
BEIJING — It may be the best location Canada has ever enjoyed in Beijing: prime real estate on the edge of Tiananmen Square, overlooking Mao's tomb, just south of the Forbidden City.
Developers would die for the location, but Canada grabbed the site in an Olympic-year coup. Now the federal and B.C. governments are spending at least $6-million on it, aiming to attract 400,000 visitors to a two-storey pavilion to promote Canada as an investment and tourism location.
Yet the early signs are disappointing. After more than a month of operation, the pavilion is attracting barely 100 to 200 visitors a day. At this pace, visitor numbers will be a tiny fraction of their target by the time it closes in September. Outside, thousands of people walk past the pavilion, often impressed by its spectacular facade of B.C. wood, designed with 13 arches to symbolize Canada's provinces and territories. But few enter.
"It's a good-looking building," 70-year-old pensioner Zhang Xinshou says as he walks past. "I wonder how much it will cost to enter." He walks to the entrance and discovers that the ticket price is 30 yuan (about $4). "I won't go in," he says, walking away.
Another man, a 55-year-old tourist from Hebei province who gives his surname as Luo, was attracted by the pavilion at first glance. "What does it exhibit?" he asks. "Maybe I'll go and have a look." But when he finds out the price, he loses interest and drifts away.
The pavilion is obliged to charge for tickets because it is located within the walls of Beijing's urban planning museum, which has a 30-yuan entrance price. The price is deterring many visitors - but that is not the only reason for the poor attendance.
The pavilion's promoters are finding it tough to capture attention in a booming city of 16 million people, where extraordinary new buildings are sprouting every month.
Organizers are hoping that attendance will jump during the Olympics. But tight security around Tiananmen Square will deter many visitors.
The 1,900-square-metre pavilion, with 62 staff, will cost $14.7-million for its construction and operation. The federal government is paying $3-million, while B.C. is contributing at least $3-million and potentially as much as $11-million, although it is also seeking corporate sponsorships.
At the Winter Olympics in 2006, a similar B.C.-Canada pavilion was created in a log cabin in downtown Turin. It was regarded as a big success, with 100,000 visitors and long lineups. Since the pavilion in Beijing is three times bigger and will be open for twice as long - May to September - the governments felt confident that 400,000 visitors would come.
"That's a good estimate," Colin Hansen, the B.C. Economic Development Minister, said in an interview last month. "It's certainly what we're working for."
But the two cities are very different. Turin is much smaller than Beijing, with a more concentrated downtown, and the log cabin grabbed attention for its novelty value. A pick-up game of street hockey was held in front of the log cabin every day, drawing more attention from passing crowds.
In contrast, Beijing is a sprawling city, and the Olympic venues are far away from the Canadian pavilion. The main floor of the pavilion, filled with tourism videos and promotional material, is not dramatic enough to gain publicity in Beijing by itself. Another problem is the entrance charge, in contrast to the free admission in Turin.
The street hockey idea, meanwhile, could not be attempted in Beijing's clogged streets. Organizers wanted to create an artificial skating rink, but the idea was scrapped to make room for a small stage.
B.C. officials argue that the pavilion's greatest value is its business centre, where visiting Canadian trade delegations are meeting their Chinese counterparts for business discussions. About 400 Canadian companies are participating in 30 delegations at the pavilion from May to September.
"The number of individual Chinese citizens who go through the pavilion is not our main target audience," Mr. Hansen said. "We hope to build a reputation among decision-makers and business people in China."
He predicted that the pavilion will become a "gathering place" for Canadians during the Olympics, as the log cabin did in Turin, but he acknowledged that it faces greater challenges in Beijing because of the tight Chinese security. "It's going to be more difficult for people to get around in Beijing during the actual period of the Games," he said.
John Gruetzner, a veteran Canadian business consultant in Beijing who is helping to invite Chinese business groups to the pavilion, said the second-floor trade centre has been more successful than the exhibitions on the first floor. While the business delegations have been full, the paying visitors have been far fewer.
"I don't think they're getting the traffic downstairs to meet 400,000 people," he said.
"The exhibitions are nicely done, but there's nothing dramatic about it. The numbers might not pick up. To get attention to anything in Beijing is difficult. Even if you're Nokia and you spend $10-million, people forget you the next day. It's very hard to get noticed in a city of 16 million."
Despite a prime location and spectacular façade, Olympic-year investment has barely 200 visitors a day
GEOFFREY YORK
From Friday's Globe and Mail
June 20, 2008 at 2:51 AM EDT
BEIJING — It may be the best location Canada has ever enjoyed in Beijing: prime real estate on the edge of Tiananmen Square, overlooking Mao's tomb, just south of the Forbidden City.
Developers would die for the location, but Canada grabbed the site in an Olympic-year coup. Now the federal and B.C. governments are spending at least $6-million on it, aiming to attract 400,000 visitors to a two-storey pavilion to promote Canada as an investment and tourism location.
Yet the early signs are disappointing. After more than a month of operation, the pavilion is attracting barely 100 to 200 visitors a day. At this pace, visitor numbers will be a tiny fraction of their target by the time it closes in September. Outside, thousands of people walk past the pavilion, often impressed by its spectacular facade of B.C. wood, designed with 13 arches to symbolize Canada's provinces and territories. But few enter.
"It's a good-looking building," 70-year-old pensioner Zhang Xinshou says as he walks past. "I wonder how much it will cost to enter." He walks to the entrance and discovers that the ticket price is 30 yuan (about $4). "I won't go in," he says, walking away.
Another man, a 55-year-old tourist from Hebei province who gives his surname as Luo, was attracted by the pavilion at first glance. "What does it exhibit?" he asks. "Maybe I'll go and have a look." But when he finds out the price, he loses interest and drifts away.
The pavilion is obliged to charge for tickets because it is located within the walls of Beijing's urban planning museum, which has a 30-yuan entrance price. The price is deterring many visitors - but that is not the only reason for the poor attendance.
The pavilion's promoters are finding it tough to capture attention in a booming city of 16 million people, where extraordinary new buildings are sprouting every month.
Organizers are hoping that attendance will jump during the Olympics. But tight security around Tiananmen Square will deter many visitors.
The 1,900-square-metre pavilion, with 62 staff, will cost $14.7-million for its construction and operation. The federal government is paying $3-million, while B.C. is contributing at least $3-million and potentially as much as $11-million, although it is also seeking corporate sponsorships.
At the Winter Olympics in 2006, a similar B.C.-Canada pavilion was created in a log cabin in downtown Turin. It was regarded as a big success, with 100,000 visitors and long lineups. Since the pavilion in Beijing is three times bigger and will be open for twice as long - May to September - the governments felt confident that 400,000 visitors would come.
"That's a good estimate," Colin Hansen, the B.C. Economic Development Minister, said in an interview last month. "It's certainly what we're working for."
But the two cities are very different. Turin is much smaller than Beijing, with a more concentrated downtown, and the log cabin grabbed attention for its novelty value. A pick-up game of street hockey was held in front of the log cabin every day, drawing more attention from passing crowds.
In contrast, Beijing is a sprawling city, and the Olympic venues are far away from the Canadian pavilion. The main floor of the pavilion, filled with tourism videos and promotional material, is not dramatic enough to gain publicity in Beijing by itself. Another problem is the entrance charge, in contrast to the free admission in Turin.
The street hockey idea, meanwhile, could not be attempted in Beijing's clogged streets. Organizers wanted to create an artificial skating rink, but the idea was scrapped to make room for a small stage.
B.C. officials argue that the pavilion's greatest value is its business centre, where visiting Canadian trade delegations are meeting their Chinese counterparts for business discussions. About 400 Canadian companies are participating in 30 delegations at the pavilion from May to September.
"The number of individual Chinese citizens who go through the pavilion is not our main target audience," Mr. Hansen said. "We hope to build a reputation among decision-makers and business people in China."
He predicted that the pavilion will become a "gathering place" for Canadians during the Olympics, as the log cabin did in Turin, but he acknowledged that it faces greater challenges in Beijing because of the tight Chinese security. "It's going to be more difficult for people to get around in Beijing during the actual period of the Games," he said.
John Gruetzner, a veteran Canadian business consultant in Beijing who is helping to invite Chinese business groups to the pavilion, said the second-floor trade centre has been more successful than the exhibitions on the first floor. While the business delegations have been full, the paying visitors have been far fewer.
"I don't think they're getting the traffic downstairs to meet 400,000 people," he said.
"The exhibitions are nicely done, but there's nothing dramatic about it. The numbers might not pick up. To get attention to anything in Beijing is difficult. Even if you're Nokia and you spend $10-million, people forget you the next day. It's very hard to get noticed in a city of 16 million."