All hotels accommodating media and those belonging to the extended 'Olympic Family' over the 2008 Olympic Games require to pass an inspection designed to ensure they meet relevant environmental standards, said the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympics (BOCOG) on Thursday.

 

According to Xiang Ping, vice-director of the BOCOG Games Service Department, it’s anticipated the work would be completed by the end of the year.

 

"Those that fail to meet the environmental standards will be struck off the list of Olympic hotels," Xiang told a press conference. To date a total of 112 star-rated establishments have been designated as official hotels of the 2008 Games.

 

A "Green Olympics" is one of the three key concepts of the Beijing Games and the organizers are determined to integrate the concept into every aspect of their preparations and that includes the accommodation.

 

BOCOG produced a guidebook in 2003 which requires all official hotels of the Games to meet a series of environmental standards in management, energy-saving, pollution prevention and the services available to guests.

 

In early 2006 the National Tourism Administration released the LB/T007-2006 industrial standards defining the "Green Tourist Hotels".

 

"Any hotel that passes the 'Green Tourist Hotels' verification standards will be considered as having fulfilled BOCOG's guidelines as the two standards are almost the same," Xiang said.

 

Xiang also promised that sufficient rooms would be reserved for accredited media, sponsors and those from national Olympic committees and international sports federations.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2007)