Beijing tourism authorities have announced a plan to revive the city's tourism industry, which was badly hit by the SARS crisis, after the World Health Organization (WHO) removed the city from its list of SARS-affected areas and lifted the travel advisory.

Yu Changjiang, director of the city's tourism administration, hailed the WHO move at a gathering to launch a local sightseeing program, stressing that it marked the beginning of the revival of tourism.

The administration had worked out 30 new products for overseas tourists and they would be introduced to overseas travel agencies immediately, he said.

Foreign journalists would tour Beijing, at the invitation of the administration, and help publicize the city's new tourism schemes, while the capitals of several Asian nations would send representatives to attend a meeting in the city on July 9, to discuss ways to boost tourism in the region, said Yu.

Meanwhile, the city also planned to further open the tourism market by allowing foreign travel agencies to set up joint ventures or solely foreign-funded travel agencies.