Operators warn Olympics could knock UK tourism
Saturday, 20 Sep, 2010
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The tourism industry in London and the UK generally could take a serious financial knock as non-sports tourists stay away during the 2012 Olympic Games.
This is the warning from the European Tour Operators Association which has studied the effects of tourism in past Olympic cities.
It has concluded that regular tourists stay away from Olympic host cities in anticipation of over-crowding, while far less sports tourists arrive than expected.
The result? Less tourists than usual in town and the kind which are not nearly as interested in catching the latest West End play, eating at the city’s restaurants, seeing the sights or experiencing the rest of the UK as regular overseas visitors.
Executive director Tom Jenkins explained: “Every Olympic city has overestimated the number of foreign visitors to the Games – nobody has got it right. There tends to be an assumption that because they have built these giant stadia, the people will come and then they have been disappointed.”
“A good recent example being Beijing. The city built 11,000 extra hotel rooms and were left with lots of empty beds. Yes, there was the recession and they had tightened via controls but having said that, the city underperformed compared to the rest of China that summer.
He added: “And the sports tourists that do come to Olympic cities are not the type of tourists that use London like normal tourists do. They have spent big money to come to the Games and they are not as interested in all the cultural offerings the city has.”
Jenkins said it was important the message was put out loud and clear that London is open for business as usual to tourists and the Olympics is just one aspect of the city in 2012. "We must not let the Games overshadow London and all it has to offer," he said.
Releasing ETOA’s latest Olympic Report today in London, Jenkins said that it wasn’t just the UK that is likely to suffer. He added: “Let’s not forget that London is a natural place to start for Americans and the Japanese when they do a tour of Europe.
"If they decide to postpone a visit to London the year of the Games, that may well mean postponing a trip to Europe in general so the effects of London hosting the event are widespread.”
by Dinah Hatch
Dinah
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