Among the expected more than 1.5 million visitors, 50,000 will come with organizations sponsoring the Olympics, their accommodation will be provided by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad at four and five-star hotels.

This means most other visitors will have to stay at less luxurious hotels.

"Generally speaking, many of Beijing's hotels meet international service standards, but that is not enough," said Xiong. "The most urgent thing right now is to improve service quality in all hotels, especially the city's inns, to meet visitors' demands. That is what we are actively and carefully working on."

The BMBT has set up an Olympics Visitor Accommodation Arrangement Team to study service in Beijing's low-end hotels and inns. The team will release service guidelines for the hotels to enhance service quality.

"By the end of October, we will grant certificates to 300 hotels, and by 2008, we will have certified around 1,000," predicted Xiong.

The bureau has published several books listing details on services in the hospitality sector during the Olympics, and has distributed them to the hotels and inns for use as training programmes.

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