Beijing on Saturday won the right to host the 15th World Tourism Organization (WTO) general assembly session in 2003, beating another bidding city Athens of Greece.

The WTO made the decision during the current four-day convention which opened in Osaka, western Japan, on Friday.

About 120 countries and regions are participating in the convention under the theme of "Into New Tourism, Peace, Sustainability and Technology," with about 540 tourism ministers, travel industry leaders and others attending.

Participants at the Osaka meeting, which follows a five-day session in Seoul as part of the organization's joint general assembly, are expected to discuss measures to promote global tourism, including anti-terrorism steps in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks on the United States.

At the Seoul meeting, delegates adopted an anti-terrorism resolution. WTO officials said delegates will discuss safety measures and tourism-promotion steps.

(People's Daily 09/29/2001)