The Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest, could attract at least 1.18 million tourists this year when the entire hydropower project is basically completed, tourism developers said on Wednesday.

As China's largest industrial tourist site, the dam had seen its annual visitors exceed 1 million for three consecutive years, with 2007 seeing a record high of 1.25 million.

"The 15 square-meter dam area will have a tourist boom this year thanks to the Olympic Games in August and the basic completion of the Three Gorges Project by the end of the year," said Chen Mengjiong, manager of the Three Gorges Tourism Development Co. Ltd. (TGTDC)

Builders completed construction of the 2,309-meter-long, 185-meter-high dam in 2006. Power transmission facilities were completed in 2007.

The relocation of 1.2 million people in the region would be finished before the summer flood season started on the Yangtze River, making it possible to raise the water level in the reservoir to 172-175 meters.

(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2008)