The Olympic Games often bring surprises to the organizers: it is difficult to say in advance whether the money spent on them will pay off. The profitability of this popular event depends on many indicators: the number of tickets sold to the stadium and souvenirs bought by tourists, the cost of advertising, etc.
The European Tour Operators Association has calculated that the number of tourists in London decreased by 30% in the first week compared to the average for August. Typically 800,000 British and 300,000 foreign tourists visit the capital of Great Britain at this time. Their target is cultural and historical monuments, museums and theaters. Huge queues line up to St Paul's Cathedral, the Tower, the British Museum and art galleries …
However, in August 2012, almost individual excursions are organized for rare visitors to these centers of culture. The attendance of cafes and restaurants has fallen. Excursions to historical sites have become less popular. The hospitality business suffers losses of about 20%. The number of weddings and receptions dropped sharply from July 27 to September 9.
There is a simple explanation for this: the sports fans who have flooded London are not too interested in cultural and architectural monuments. They prefer not to leave the Olympic Park, where they can find everything to satisfy their spiritual needs. The city has welcomed 100,000 guests who prefer sports pubs to museums, theaters and galleries. 200,000 tourists who are willing to spend money on excursions chose to go to other cultural centers.
In addition, the city authorities, fearing a sharp increase in the load on the transport network, ahead of time began to persuade Londoners to plan alternative routes for movement by surface transport and the underground. As a result, many Londoners left the city, thereby depriving the owners of cafes, restaurants and shops.
However, British Tourism Authority officials are optimistic. According to their forecasts, by 2015 London will be visited by 4.5 million more foreign tourists than usual. The budget will receive an additional over 2 billion pounds.
