Even though it's still three years until the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the Chinese capital city is already busy promoting Olympic-themed tourism.

Tourism is one of the major spin-offs for the host city and Beijing is hoping to cash in on Olympic tourism well before the first medal is won.

Wen Ziji, Deputy Director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Tourism, explains:

"This year, the theme of the Beijing Olympics Tourism is 'Appreciate the Beauty of Chinese culture' and at the end of 2006 and 2007, Beijing's Olympic Park and Olympic stadiums will be respectively completed. Our tourist sites and routes will focus on that."

Wen Ziji says in the latter half of this year, youths of over ten countries and regions that have hosted Olympics will be invited to Beijing to sing the theme of the Olympic games.

The city will also host a photographic contest themed "Beijing, the city for the Olympics As I See it".

City authorities are also hoping to improve services and standards for the thousands of tourists expected to flood to Beijing.

"We want to introduce advanced foreign companies to manage some tourist spots and also absorb foreign investment in travel agencies. By separating ownership from management, we hope our tourist industry can develop more quickly."

It is believed that the forth-coming Games in Beijing is a golden opportunity for tourism organizations and enterprises to upgrade their management and create a better image for Beijing tourism.

(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2005)