Year-end holiday sales fall due to frugality campaign

Beijing’s luxury hotels and year-end celebration planners are seeing slumping business due to a government frugality campaign, Beijing News reported on Nov 28.

The Communist Party of China’s Central Committee asked officials late last year to curb extravagance and cut public spending.

December used to be a time for year-end celebrations, but many hotel and restaurant managers told Beijing News that they are receiving fewer orders from State-owned enterprises and government institutes.

Event planning businesses are slumping, too, as they have received only half the orders than in previous years, the report said.

An office director of an unnamed State-owned enterprise in Beijing told Beijing News that they used to deliver gifts like iPads to employees at an annual meeting, while this year they plan to give them towels and toothbrushes.