Olympic tourism gets a boost
The Olympics Games is a grand event not only for sports, but also for tourism. Beijing's hosting of the Olympics to be held in this year will not only bring extremely rare development opportunity for Beijing's tourism industry, but also elevate the performance of the city's tourism as a whole.
Since the beginning of the year, several tourist itineraries that are characteristic of the Olympics have been carefully designed through the re-synergizing of the resources in the Beijing tourism industry. Besides the theme itineraries of "Beijing Historic and Cultural Heritages"-including household names such as the Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City, there are also itineraries full of Beijing flavor, such as Bars Street in Shichahai, Qianmen Street, Hutong travel, and new landmarks of Beijing such as 798 Art Zone, the National Centre for Performing Arts, and, especially, the Olympics venues such as the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube that have become new attractions of the Olympics tourism.
As informed, the athletes, coaches, referees, and officials from all countries can consult and book traveling itinerary without going out of the village they live. Nearly one hundred of travel itineraries have been designed specially by the Beijing Travel Administration, including 5 "half-day tour" itineraries, 28 "1-day tour" itineraries, and dozens of "2-day tour" and "3-day tour" itineraries.
In order to attract visitors from home and abroad, Beijing tourism has made great efforts both in "hardware" and "software". There are now 815 star-rated hotels, with a capacity of 130,000 rooms. Olympics travel manuals have been written; Beijing tourism information website has been set up; 56 Olympics city information booths have been established; a travel service hotline 12301 has been open to service, etc.
Xiong Yumei, Vice Administrator of Beijing Travel Administration, said that there were ample accommodation resources in Beijing, fully capable of meeting the needs during the Olympics. Among the high-class hotels that are geographically advantageous, 119 of them have become the official receiving hotel beijing of the Olympics. "The travel specialty 'Olympic Home-stay' introduced by the Beijing Travel Administration has officially gone on the market. Currently there are 598 designated "Olympic Home-stay Families", providing 726 rooms, with a capacity of receiving more than 1000 visitors from home or abroad at a time. This will enhance the friendly communication among Beijing citizens and foreign visitors, and provide foreign guests with a more rich choice of accommodation beijing."
Beijing, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Tianjin...all cities that are relevant to the Olympics have become the tourism attractions. It is told that taking the opportunity of hosting Olympics sailing competitions, the Shandong Travel Administration has designed a Shandong Olympics tourism plan, introducing 10 tourist itineraries for tourists to appreciate the unique charm of Shandong's culture and scenic spots. Influenced by the Olympics, the busy season of Shandong's tourism comes earlier than usual. Presently, the booking rate of Qingdao's business hotel has reached 100 percent, and various Olympic in-depth tours have also been favored by tourists. The Qingdao Olympics Sailing Centre, upon completion of construction, has become a distinct characteristic of the city's tourism. Many tourists come for the purpose of seeing the grandness of this Olympics venue.
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