The national capital Beijing expects to host more than 4.4 million overseas tourists in the year 2008, a result of the city's holding the 29th Olympic Games, a local tourism official predicted.

Beijing expects to harvest a tourism income of 4.5 billion US dollars in foreign exchange, said Yu Changjiang, director of the city tourism administration at a news conference Sunday on business opportunities associated with the 2008 Olympic Games.

The 2008 Olympic Games was sure to bring great opportunities for the local tourism industry, Yu said.

The number of overseas tourists to Beijing was expected to increase by 7-8 percent annually in the three years before 2008 and by 13 percent in the year 2008, Yu said.

Beijing expects to welcome 152 million domestic tourists in 2008, bringing an income of 122.5 billion yuan (14.8 billion US dollars), according to Yu. In 2002, the corresponding figures were110 million and 100 billion.

With a huge tourism market, Beijing expected to receive 3.1 million overseas tourists and 124.2 million domestic tourists in 2004, Yu said.

Source: Xinhua