Beijing will make tourism a pillar industry in its post-Olympic development, the Beijing local government announced Tuesday.

The capital's tourism industry received a big boost from the Beijing summer Olympics and has become a driving force of the city's economic growth, Beijing Vice Mayor Ding Xiangyang said.

Statistics show that the yearly tourism revenues currently account for about 7 percent of Beijing's annual GDP.

Vice Mayor Ding says the city hopes that number will soon reach ten percent.

To realize this goal, the government will take a series of steps, investing 78 billion RMB in 83 travel programs.

International tourism professionals are also invited to serve these travel programs as senior advisors, including Manny Fontenla-Novoa, Chief Executive Officer of Thomas Cook Group, Paul Kennedy, Chairman of Reed Travel Exhibition, and the President of Japan's JTB Corp, Tagawa Hiromi.