Olympics 2012 Win worth over an estimated £2 billion to British Tourism

Congratulations London! the whole of Britain is celebrating following yesterday’s announcement that the city will host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.  Britain’s tourism industry was among the first to welcome the announcement proclaiming it the biggest ever opportunity for UK tourism. Industry leaders believe that between 50 –75% of Britain’s net benefit of staging the Games, measured over a 7-10 year period, will accrue through tourism. Based on Sydney’s example, the Games could be worth well over £2 billion to the visitor economy. 

Tom Wright, chief executive of national tourism marketing agency, VisitBritain, said, “The IOC’s decision confirms London’s and Britain’s places among the world’s leading visitor destinations. It is as much a vote of confidence for Britain’s tourism and leisure facilities as it is for our sporting venues and events.”

The tourism prospects for London and Britain were already encouraging with both currently experiencing record years for the second year running. VisitBritain predicts that every nation and region within Britain is now likely to receive additional leisure and business visitors in the years before, during and after the Games.

“The Games provide a great platform to boost the international marketing of both London and Britain as leisure, business and sporting destinations, particularly in new and emerging markets such as China, Malaysia and Thailand,” said Tom Wright.

Britain is easily capable of accommodating all these additional visitors and the tourism industry will now focus on delivering the best possible experience. VisitBritain will lead this process, working with its national, regional and commercial partners to showcase the world-class tourism products and services that Britain has to offer and further raise the standard of welcome that visitors receive.

Tourism is already worth almost £74 billion a year to the UK (of which over £13 billion comes from international visitors) and employs 7% of Britain’s workforce. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has set a target to increase the value of tourism to £100 billion by 2010, recognising this as the key to further wealth and job creation for the economy.

“Hosting the Games gives us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to boost the visitor economy and we look forward to welcoming visitors to our shores to enjoy this incredible sporting spectacle and celebration of excellence. The British are passionate about sport and will embrace the spirit of the games and make great hosts and spectators” said Tom Wright.

Sport is an essential part of Britain’s appeal to visitors and the Games are the perfect platform to boost the international marketing of both London and Britain as leisure, business and sporting destinations. The cultural festival running alongside the Games will showcase Britain’s multiculturalism, rich heritage and contemporary outlook.

The benefits are expected to be felt across the whole of the UK, with visitors travelling to and – in the case of the athletes themselves – training or competing in every nation and region. London and Britain will become the centre of the world’s attention with some 20,000 journalists sending reports and broadcasts from all parts of Britain - projecting images of Britain as a destination to millions of potential visitors worldwide.

Of course it was not only London, who wase victorious yesterday. Singapore, where hotels were nearly all fully booked,  gained incredible amounts of global media exposure from hosting the exciting finale.

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