Late booking rush predicted for Olympics
Visit Britain is being told to expect a rush of late bookers for the London Olympics as it becomes increasingly evident that there will be hotel rooms available during the Games.
Director of overseas networks, Keith Beecham, said 21,000 new rooms were coming on line in the UK in 2012, some 9000 of them in London.
"London is used to coping with big numbers (of tourists) and we’re confident there will be enough rooms for everyone," he said, speaking in Bangkok to an audience of Asian travel buyers.
Despite a strong start to the year (visitor numbers to the UK rose 4% in the January-March 2012 quarter) Visit Britain is expecting full year international visitor arrivals to be flat.
"Given economic conditions, if we come in with the same figure as 2011 it won’t be a bad result," Beecham said.
"Operators are telling us there will be a strong late booking pattern this year and it could be that those markets that wait the longest before booking will find some interesting hotel prices."
Beecham said Britain is "keeping its powder dry", ready to launch a huge promotional campaign after the end of the Olympics and Paralympics.
The campaign will be launched to maintain the exposure generated by an anticipated four billion people watching the Olympic Games and Diamond Jubilee celebrations this year.
It will be about "closing the sale", said Beecham.
Funding the campaign is a £400 million public-private alliance backed by companies such as British Airways, EasyJet, American Express, the Premier League, Wimbledon Lawn Tennis and Radisson Edwardian hotels.
Visit Britain is working its post-Olympics marketing effort around the themes of food and drink, sport, heritage, film, shopping and outdoor.
By Ian Jarrett, reporting from Destination Britain and Ireland in Bangkok
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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