Hotels given energy slack to support tourism By Liu Chang (China Daily) Updated: 2004-07-07 02:20
Air conditioning facilities in Beijing's hotels will not be required to be
shut off for one hour after they have run for two hours this summer, the
municipal government has announced.
The former restrictive policy, which was adopted by the Beijing Municipal
Commission of Development and Reform late last month, was part of a series of
local measures to ease the on-going electricity shortages in the capital city.
Beijing-based office buildings and department stores are also involved in
restrictive air-conditioning policy moves.
But the mandates have received opposition from tourism industry insiders at
home and abroad, sources within the hotel administrative department at the
Beijing Municipal Bureau of Tourism say.
The bureau has received complaints from industry insiders such as the Travel
Industry Council of Hong Kong, which claims the measure could have a negative
impact on the number of tourists coming to Beijing this summer, the Beijing
Times reported.
After the tourism authority negotiated with local electricity administrative
organ, the Beijing municipal government decided not impose the compulsory
restrictive policy upon hotels.
"If we adopt the measure, the tourism and hotel industries may sustain
serious damage," a notice from the hotel administrative department said.
Sources further emphasized that the international image of Beijing hotels and
even the capital city could be negatively influenced if all hotels turn off
air-conditioning temporarily on such a frequent basis.
But the notice nonetheless required all hotels to be cognizant of the short
supply of electricity this summer, and encouraged conservation.
Temperatures must be controlled to be no lower than 26 C within hotel rooms,
and doors and windows are required to be opened and closed less frequently to
save electricity.
All of the hotels are being told to draft energy-saving plans and to submit
them to the tourism authority.
Inspections will be conducted in the near future and those who fail will be
punished, officials said.
Electricity use in Beijing this summer will possibly hit its highest in
history, officials are predicting. It is expected the volume will be 9.5 million
kilowatts, 15 per cent higher than the figure recorded last
year.