Beijing city officials said Friday that Beijing needs more hotels to cope with the massive influx of sportsmen and tourists expected at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
Vice Mayor Zhang Mao, speaking at a hotel development workshop sponsored by local tourism, called for more low-cost hotels to be built in time for the Games, which are expected to attract more than 100 million visitors to the Games.
It is expected about 4.6 million overseas visitors and 96 million domestic tourists will be in Beijing in 2008 for the Games and to tour the city. During the Games 1.44 million visitors, including 250,000 foreigners are expected.
Beijing now has only 658 star-rated hotels with 109,000 rooms and 200,000 bids, but about 800 star-rated hotels providing 130,000 rooms will be needed during the Games.
Also, many of the city’s non-rated hotels will have to be renovated.
