The report quoted Chen as saying that this would imply demand for 31.35 mln room nights where existing hotels could only provide 26.03 mln room nights at the end of last year. 'Each year's additional demand can be translated into opening 36 new hotels annually, each with 200 rooms', Chen was quoted as saying.
The report said that demand was being driven by an increasing number of exhibitions being held in the city, with 400 medium to large-sized international exhibitions expected in 2005 compared to the current 272.