In October the $6-million China Open tennis tournament will be held for the first time at the Olympic venue while the Wukesong basketball arena, which is co-managed by the National Basketball Association (NBA), will host an international pre-season game between the Indiana Pacers and the Denver Nuggets.

Newer sports have also been attracted to Beijing, with the mixed martial artists of the Art of War circuit trading blows in the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium twice this year.

And let's not forget the "satellite" venues of Qingdao (sailing) and Hong Kong (equestrian) or those cities across the country that hosted preliminary rounds of the football competition; all are set to enjoy plenty of future sporting glory.

The Sydney experience

Sydney, the host of Australia's second Olympics in 2000, is a case in point.

In October 2009—nine years after their Olympic Games—the city and its immediate surrounding region will host the World Masters Games, where 28,000 mature athletes will compete in 28 sports at 72 venues over the course of two weeks.

The event offers a major tourism boost to Sydney and Australia and would certainly never have been possible if the city had not hosted the Games of the XXVII Olympiad.

It's sports tourism at its best—one of the most evolving and dynamic forms of tourism on the planet. It is something that Olympic cities can draw on as a continuing legacy of the investment in their venues.

Sydney realized two things in the lead up to 2000. First, former wastelands and ugly industrial estates could be converted to incredibly functional sporting facilities.

The Sydney Olympic Stadium stands today on the site of a former abattoir—an unsightly throwback to the beginning of the 20th century—and hosts regular football matches and major concert events.

It's also well serviced by a dedicated rail line constructed for the Olympics, not unlike Beijing's Subway Line 8 (the Olympic branch line), Line 10 or the Airport Express.

Second, Sydney realized the importance of maintaining its primary Olympic venues. The Penrith Rowing and Canoeing Park, where regular international boat races are held, sits as a great example. It boasts state-of-the-art, wave-minimizing venue design that is held in such high regard that many facets were replicated by Olympic Games that followed.

Despite Sydney's example, Athens appears not to have been so forward thinking with many of their 22 venues, which were abandoned not long after the 2004 Olympiad.

"The reason why some countries have been challenged with economic downturns after hosting an Olympics is that hosting cities are often very small," Chen Jian, Executive President of the Beijing Economy Research Association, said last year. "Their investments in infrastructure construction were excessive. Fluctuations arose in economic growth when no new hotspot for investment occurred after the Olympics."

Again, this is a problem not likely to be experienced by Beijing, as its tourism and infrastructure benefits have been thoroughly considered.

Future tourism

Recent host cities Atlanta, Sydney and Athens have discovered there is one temporary downside to the Olympic legacy, however.

They've realized that general tourism—that which is inspired by international television coverage of the Games—is not instant, but quite residual.

In fact, it is generally accepted that tourism to Olympic cities is much stronger two years and more after the Games than it is in the first year simply because holidaymakers and those planning business conferences, particularly those from the farthest reaches, need time to save and plan for international travel.

Future venue responsibilities

With any Olympic legacy, there is of course a large measure of responsibility. In Beijing's instance it's a responsibility to maintain the venues in their best possible condition while maximizing their future sporting and public uses.

Without activity and life in the venues, they will become nothing more than expensive Olympic monuments.

Beijing must:

- Ensure the venues are maintained in their very best condition;

- Are available to future sporting competitions at affordable prices;

- Ensure those venues that are now used for other purposes are properly managed and maximize public accessibility and usage;

- Encourage use by junior and developing sportspeople so as to promote sport within China;

- Are continually upgraded to ensure their sporting relevance and longevity.

There are very few criticisms, if any, that can be leveled at the standard and quality of Beijing's Olympic venues.

The exhaustive test events of 2007 ensured they were built to the highest levels of functionality required of the sports and the spectators.

It's also recognized that many "back-of-house" parts of the venues were constructed for temporary use by officials, staff, volunteers and the world's media and that many of these areas were quickly, and quite rightly, removed following the Games.

Non-sport legacies

The construction of Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport, the China National Convention Center and the construction and upgrade of a number of top-class hotels throughout the city are some of the obvious non-sport legacies of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Roads and bridges were constructed, along with many wonderful parks, to be enjoyed by all for many years to come.

Another important legacy lies in the regions and areas of China that hosted teams as they were training for their Beijing competition along with the role Beijing will play as a warm-up venue for those competing in next year's Asian Games in Guangzhou or the inaugural Youth Olympics in Singapore.

It's a certainty that many individual athletes and teams heading for Guangzhou or Singapore will want to spend their last weeks of training using the very best venues, facilities and apparatus and equipment possible…and where better than Beijing?

The author is managing director of HicksonMedia Pty Ltd. in Australia and was a sports information specialist with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG)