2012 london olympics

Olympics to Damage UK Tourism by Iain Thomas

2007-07-17T12:07:00.000-07:00

Despite the governments claims that the 2012 Olympics will bring a huge boost to UK tourism there is strong evidence to the contrary and the government is coming under increased pressure to create a coordinated strategy to mitigate the potentially damaging impact on tourism of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The European Tour Operators Association is calling for careful planning and marketing around the Olympics to avoid a tourism downturn in London and the UK around the time of the Olympics. The ETOA has released a report countering previous claims that countries see tourism benefit from hosting the Olympics.

The European Tour Operators Association report, published a year after London won the Olympic bid, demonstrates that countries who host the Olympic Games suffer a drop in tourism growth in the years surrounding the event. Further to this the report claims that there is no long-term boost to tourism, as has been widely asserted.

In the case of Australia, a trend of over 10% growth in visitor arrivals turned into a decline two years before the Sydney Olympics. The stagnation persisted for more than two years after. By comparison, New Zealand experienced steadily improving tourism growth throughout the past decade. In the five years prior to the Olympics, Australia's and New Zealand's tourism was growing at the same rate but Australia's growth lost ground significantly straight after the Olympics.

A similar 'Olympic Effect' is also apparent for four out of the last five Olympics - in Sydney 2000, Atlanta 1996, Barcelona 1992 and Seoul 1988.

ETOA's research also disproves claims that the beneficial impact of the Olympics needs to be measured over a longer period of time. Taking Barcelona as an example, longer-term tourism growth since the Games has been outstripped by other comparable European cities, such as Prague and Dublin.

Official statistics for the years after the Athens Olympics are not yet available. But the pattern appears to be the same. The ETOA says that in 2002, two years before the Olympics, arrivals in Greece were 8.2% up on the previous year but in 2003, numbers fell by 1.5%. This decline continued until the first part of 2004. One month before the start of the Games, visitor arrivals were 12% down.

The EOTA Has suggested the following measures be taken:

*A commitment not to burden the tourism industry with any additional tax

*A national marketing campaign with an appropriate budget to smooth out the inevitable Olympic dip

*Specific communication to make the point that London is able to absorb the Games without difficulty and that it will be open for tourist business as usual throughout 2012

*Initiatives and marketing communication in the years running up to the Games to counteract fears that London will be full, over-priced or 'otherwise engaged', possibly detailing how much is open and the bargains available

*Arrangements to give 'Olympic visitors' a full tourism experience whilst they are in the UK for the Games

ETOA suggested that many of the prior reports have been based on aggregated opinion looking forward to the future rather than on objective fact, looking back on past experience and have been funded by organizations wishing to promote the Games.

The International Olympic Committee's claims about media exposure have been "hyperbolic" too, ETOA suggested. IOC president Jacques Rogge said on CBS in October 2004 that the total cumulative world television audience - with viewers counted each time they watched - was around 40 billion for the Athens Olympics.

Such numbers do not stand up to scrutiny, according to ETOA. There are roughly 6.5 billion people on the planet. Of these, 1.6 billion have no access to electricity and a further 400 million are less than five years old. To achieve a cumulative audience of 40 billion involves nearly three billion people (or 60% of the available world) watching every single day of the games. Detailed viewing data from the IOC itself for Sydney suggest that the total number watching "peak time" was 280 million. Even if this number is multiplied up by the number of days the games is open, the audience size would only be a tenth of that claimed by enthusiasts.

About the Author
Iain Thomas writes articles on travel leisure and tourism in the UK and London. He is an employee of www.bedsearcher.co.uk a company which specialises in booking of hotels, bed and breakfasts and guesthouses in London and the UK.

The 2012 London Olympics by Mark Mitchel

2007-07-17T12:05:00.001-07:00

The 2012 Olympics will use a mixture of newly built venues, existing facilities, and temporary facilities, including the 80,000 seat Olympic Stadium and the new Wembley Stadium. The majority of venues have been divided into three zones within Greater London: the Olympic Zone, the River Zone and the Central Zone. Some additional venues are, by necessity, outside the boundaries of Greater London.

The Olympic Village will have 17,320 beds and provide each athlete with 16m² floor space, a TV, Internet access, and a private courtyard. The dining hall will be able to feed 5,500 athletes at a time.Public transport will undergo a massive redevelopment, including the expansion of the London Underground's East London Line, upgrades to the Docklands Light Railway and the North London Line, and the new "Olympic Javelin" service.

The 2012 Summer Olympics programme will feature 26 sports and a total of 35 disciplines. London's bid featured 28 sports, in line with other recent Summer Olympics, but the IOC voted to drop baseball and softball from the 2012 Games two days after it selected London as the host city. The IOC reinforced their decision to drop both sports during the Turin Games after they lost votes for reconsideration. They will be Olympic sports for the last time at Beijing in 2008.The UK's Guardian newspaper reported on Friday 28 October 2005 that open-air swimming disciplines will be added to the Beijing and London Olympic schedules. The paper also reported that women's boxing may be added to London; the IOC confirmed that women's boxing would not be included in Beijing because they "did not feel it merited inclusion in 2008".

There will be 8 million tickets for the Olympic Games themselves, and a further 1.6 million for the Paralympics. Organisers say that 75 per cent of all tickets will cost less than £50 and offer free travel on London transport, with the cheapest tickets for the athletics starting at £15. Additionally, there will be 20,000 £10 tickets for the Olympic Park to watch events on big screens.

About the Author
Autor runs London city guide Flight London

Olympic Boroughs To Miss Out On 2012 Olympics Jobs by Alison White

2007-07-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

Preparing for and running the 2012 Olympic Games will create many jobs over the next seven years. But the promised jobs boom from the 2012 Olympics for the five Olympic boroughs might fail to materialize. Thousands of new jobs and training opportunities have been promised through the regeneration of east London, but local people could miss out on the benefits. A quarter of people of working age in the neighbouring boroughs of Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest have no qualifications, while over 60% are unemployed. Recommendations include more training to target the construction skills gap and a dedicated language academy to improve potential workers' proficiency in English. London's mayor, Ken Livingstone, has announced an £11m package to provide training and jobs ahead of the Games. The programme will fund skills training, employment advice and work placements with organisations such as Centrepoint and the Prince's Trust. Mayor Ken Livingstone said helping disadvantaged communities was a key aim of the scheme. Up to 50,000 new jobs in the Lower Lea Valley have been promised by the London Employment and Skills Taskforce and the LDA. It's estimated that preparations for the Olympics will create 150,000 jobs over the next seven years; 12,000 permanent jobs will be needed to service the Olympic Park and its legacy afterwards. Employers will be encouraged to employ and train local people where possible. Unions and the government are also keen for the created jobs to be quality jobs that include training and have a future beyond the Olympics. Olympics will create jobs in construction, manufacturing, transport, entertainment and leisure, the service sector, IT, telecoms, hospitality and catering, tourism, languages, media, design, security, logistics, cultural and creative industries. The construction industry in London is currently under-skilled and there are shortages. The hospitality industry already has a shortage of skilled and unskilled workers, and thousands more will need to be recruited for 2012. The greatest demand will be for higher level technical skills: technicians, advanced craft staff, skilled tradespeople and associate professional skilled people. The Olympics will need also 70,000 volunteers. The volunteering programme will be launched next year.
About the Author
Preparing for and running the 2012 Olympic Games will create many over the next seven years.

Accommodation for the 2012 Olympic by Bruce Abbott

2007-07-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

If you are going to the 2012 London Olympic Games then you certainly have a lot to look forward to. In order to ensure you get the most out of your stay, it is best to consider where you are going to stay as soon as possible! When you sort out your accommodation early it is easier to look forward to the trip, and it is also much easier to book a place that will be positioned nearer the main event - which is a great advantage when public transport and the city as a whole will be so busy at that time.

As well as many practical advantages to booking early, there are also financial incentives too. Because hotels, guest houses and rental accommodation would all rather know they are busy than leave getting fully booked to chance, they will often offer financial incentives to confirming a booking before the event occurs.

If you are unsure about what accommodation to stay in during the 2012 Olympic Games then you will not be the only one. With many luxury hotels and other great accommodation options, it can be hard to be able to choose which is right for you. The cheapest option is usually a guest house or rented accommodation. Although, even those will be much more expensive because of an increase in demand during the time in which the Olympics are on. If you are more concerned about your budget than anything else they are also great hostel accommodation and Lodging deals that you can take advantage of, which will be a fraction of the cost of the other options.

While you are away for the Olympics one of the most important elements is staying in a place which is close enough to the city center to make traveling to the event easier. For this, there is no one type of accommodation which will have an advantage over another. Many of the luxury hotels are positioned there, however so is rental accommodation. Guest houses are generally positioned on the outskirts of the city so you should check the travel arrangements in advance if you are considering staying there.

Many people like to have a personal service, while others would much rather have their privacy instead. If you feel uncomfortable staying alongside a lot of people then you should probably consider rented accommodation. This is the best option for those that do not like to be restricted to the time they can come in at night, as well as those that would rather not worry about children crying or what time they have to get up at in the morning.

On the other hand, hotels and guest rooms are the best way to kick your feet up and not have to cook at all. Another advantage is that you will get an opportunity to meet a lot of people that you are living with and hopefully you will go home with friends that you may have for the rest of your life. Whatever accommodation you choose, make sure you choose soon as it will not be abundant forever!

About the Author
Bruce Abbott, a proficient writer, writes for hotels London olympic games. The author writes articles about private accommodation London 2012 olympic games. Supplementary editorials that were written by Bruce Abbott about bed and breakfast 2012 London olympic games are accessible on the internet.