Beijing tourism authorities are gearing up to promote tourism in the city, especially as the 2008 Beijing Olympics are approaching, Wednesday's China Daily reported.

The hosting of the Olympics will create tremendous opportunities for Beijing's tourism industry, Yu Changjiang, director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Tourism, was quoted as saying at the Beijing Olympics Tourism Promotion Conference on Tuesday.

"With the Olympics approaching, our theme of Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics and People's Olympics will allow the city to become the focal point for tourists from across the globe," said Yu.

That means Beijing is expected to receive 4.4 million overseas visitors spending 4.5 billion US dollars in 2008, and 150 million domestic visitors, spending 122.5 billion yuan (14.8 billion US dollars), he said.

Confronted with such huge market growth, local tourist authorities are emphasizing a series of key tourist events and items, including the Shichahai Cultural Tourism Festival.

The annual tourism festival at the downtown lake in June and July has drawn an increasing number of visitors, especially overseas ones, said Liu Jun, a tourist official with the city's Xicheng District Tourism Bureau.

The hutongs, Beijing's traditional narrow lanes with "Siheyuan",or four-sided enclosed yards, on both sides, around Shichahai are undergoing large-scale renovation, which is expected to be completed by the end of August.

A total of 19.83 million yuan (2.4 million US dollars) has been earmarked to give the alleyways a facelift. Underground pipes and Internet access will be installed and decorative street lamps will be erected by the side of the lake.

Another key tourist project, the sightseeing bus collaborative project, has also been launched.

The city sightseeing bus project plans to carve out two fixed sight-seeing itineraries -- New Beijing and Old Beijing.

Double-decker sight-seeing buses will operate on the New Beijing route, which will include the Chang'an Avenue and the Second Ring Road in the innermost of Beijing, allowing visitors to appreciate New Beijing's modern charm.

The Old Beijing route will use open-topped cars to pass through the city's hutongs and parks, highlighting Beijing's fold customs.

Participants at the tourism promotion conference have discussed ways to upgrade accommodation at Beijing's hotels in order to meet the needs of the Olympics.

It is estimated that Beijing will have more than 800 star-rated hotels and more than 4,000 non-star-rated ones by 2008.

Source: Xinhua