The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) yesterday authorized a total of 132 hotels as "2008 Olympic Games Official Hotels".

The contracted hotels include 120 in Beijing and 12 in other six Olympic cities, ranging from five-star to unrated hotels. Ninety-seven of them have been designated "Green Hotels" by the Beijing Tourism Administration.

According to Liu Jingmin, Vice Mayor of Beijing and also Executive Vice Chairman of the BOCOG, the average price per night at a five-star contracted hotel is 2,799 yuan. A four-star and three-star hotel cost 2,155 yuan and 1,466 yuan respectively.

The average room prices at the contracted hotels of the Beijing Games are slightly higher than the current average but lower than those at the Athens Games and the Turin Winter Games.

The contracted hotels fulfill the BOCOG's promise to accommodate the "Olympic Family", which includes visiting Olympic Officials, media professionals and sponsors, said Liu during the signing ceremony. He also asked the contracted hotels to provide high-standard service to the Olympic guests and open a window for foreign visitors and international society to better participate in and evaluate the Beijing Games.

Over 40 contracted hotels provided 5,500 guest rooms for the "Good Luck Beijing" Olympic test events this year.

(China.org.cn by Huang Shan, December 29, 2007)