(BEIJING, December 20) -- The 21-strong Arrival and Departure Center is the smallest department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), but its work concerns some 100,000 visitors expected to attend the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

The center, set up on June 14, 2007, is projected to expand to a staff of 30 during the Games, with an additional 80 volunteers. They will coordinate the arrivals and departures of five groups of clients, including those of the International Olympic Committee IOC), the national and regional Olympic committees (NOCs), international sports federations (IFs), accredited media, and Olympic partners and sponsors, totaling some 100,000 persons, said Gao Fei, the center's director.

"Our aim is to provide convenient and swift services to our guests in line with their standards and specifications, covering services from their flight seats to hotel beds," Gao told the press at the Beijing Olympic Media Center on Thursday.

He said his team is considering moving part of the passage procedures from the airport to the Olympic Village. Previous experience shows that the three days after the closing of the Olympic Games are the peak times for departure. If baggage handling can be done at the Olympic Village, it would greatly facilitate the visitors' departure, he said. Of course, visa and other inspection should be handled at the airport counter as usual, he added.

Beginning January, his center will gather information on the arrival and departure of various visitors, including the arrival and departure times, luggage amount and luggage size, Gao said.