London Olympics Economic Boost Failing to Materialise

DervProf

ukcarper wrote: »

Enjoyed woman’s road race today, know that part of Surrey very well and I thought it looked good on TV better than it actually is in some places. Crowds pretty impressive to.

　

I enjoyed watching the cycling too.

Maybe I shouldn't watch too much BBC Breakfast news during the games.

pqrdef

I take it the empty seats are the ones allocated to foreign national committees that would normally have gone onto the black market, pretty much en bloc by the look of it. Do away with the black market and this is what you get.

But nobody dares say so, because if you annoy members of the IOC at this point, they will brief against you in the foreign media, and we really don't need that just now.

Well the IOC have connived at the ticket racket for years. Maybe they'll be shamed into doing something about it now. Or maybe the Brazilians will reckon it's easier just to go back to the old system.

I blame Tessa Jowell.

purch

ukcarper wrote: »

Enjoyed woman’s road race today, know that part of Surrey very well and I thought it looked good on TV better than it actually is in some places. Crowds pretty impressive to.

　

I think most places look far better on film or TV than they do in reality.

Most Sports Stadiums look far bigger and more impressive on TV than they do when you are actually inside them.

chewmylegoff

pqrdef wrote: »

I take it the empty seats are the ones allocated to foreign national committees that would normally have gone onto the black market, pretty much en bloc by the look of it. Do away with the black market and this is what you get.

But nobody dares say so, because if you annoy members of the IOC at this point, they will brief against you in the foreign media, and we really don't need that just now.

Well the IOC have connived at the ticket racket for years. Maybe they'll be shamed into doing something about it now. Or maybe the Brazilians will reckon it's easier just to go back to the old system.

I blame Tessa Jowell.

didn't this happen in the beijing olympics as well. i distinctly remember there being large numbers of empty seats at many of the events there, although i may just have made that up in my mind of course.

Graham_Devon

Pretty much every man and his dog, from shop owners, to tourist attractions, to hoteliers are complaining that the Olympics has hit their business.

They were gearing up for more spending, not less, they suggest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19059880

"The Olympics was all hyped up, and every hotel - including mine - put their prices up.
"But with a week to go before the start of the games, I had to put my prices back down again. Like everyone else I'm only half full. Normally I'm full at this time of the year."

Greed ruined you....sir?

chewmylegoff

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Pretty much every man and his dog, from shop owners, to tourist attractions, to hoteliers are complaining that the Olympics has hit their business.

They were gearing up for more spending, not less, they suggest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19059880





Greed ruined you....sir?

my favourite is the german teacher who came over to cash in on the games by riding a rickshaw around the west end and selling rides to tourists, but is considering going back home 'cos it's dead as everyone's in the east end.

oh, sorry about that.

Graham_Devon

The thing is...why do we hype things up so much? Everyone knows most of the world don't have money to splurge at the moment. I understand there are some very powerful people at these olympics, with a lot of money....but those people won't be paying to be there, and neither will then be shopping in the local high street.

It seems to me (and I referenced this before now, but was told I'm just hoping it all fails) that we seemingly go out of our way to to raise expectations beyond what in reality is achieveable. I'm not sure if this is a british way of doing things or not. This doesn't just reference the olympics, but politics in the country does it, aswell as every bit of mainstream media. Nothing ever seems to be as big as it's initially made out to be.

But hoteliers al putting their prices up in the middle of the deepest recession in decades on the false hope that people will pay is just silly. Even the seats and bookings were FAR too optimistic. It's silly, and it's backfired...but no doubt if we did it all over again, we'd all be making the same mistakes again.

Look at the people on the news the other morning, now left renting a place and paying a mortgage on their place in London, all on the belief they could get 8k a week for their large hous in London. They've ended up with nothing but a rental bill.

I guess the good thing to come out of the optimism is the fact that it's not as bad as it was hyped up to be, and London CAN cope.

Thrugelmir

Graham_Devon wrote: »

I guess the good thing to come out of the optimism is the fact that it's not as bad as it was hyped up to be, and London CAN cope.

Maybe the feel good factor will boost productivity. Make people feel good about the UK as a whole.

ash28

Graham_Devon wrote: »

The thing is...why do we hype things up so much? Everyone knows most of the world don't have money to splurge at the moment. I understand there are some very powerful people at these olympics, with a lot of money....but those people won't be paying to be there, and neither will then be shopping in the local high street.

It seems to me (and I referenced this before now, but was told I'm just hoping it all fails) that we seemingly go out of our way to to raise expectations beyond what in reality is achieveable. I'm not sure if this is a british way of doing things or not. This doesn't just reference the olympics, but politics in the country does it, aswell as every bit of mainstream media. Nothing ever seems to be as big as it's initially made out to be.

But hoteliers al putting their prices up in the middle of the deepest recession in decades on the false hope that people will pay is just silly. Even the seats and bookings were FAR too optimistic. It's silly, and it's backfired...but no doubt if we did it all over again, we'd all be making the same mistakes again.

Look at the people on the news the other morning, now left renting a place and paying a mortgage on their place in London, all on the belief they could get 8k a week for their large hous in London. They've ended up with nothing but a rental bill.

I guess the good thing to come out of the optimism is the fact that it's not as bad as it was hyped up to be, and London CAN cope.

A large part of the London problem has been caused by our media (read and heard around the world) and political classes, they have been telling us for months that London wouldn't be able to cope with the traffic, the extra underground footfall, people were advised to change the times they would normally travel, use a different route, work from home, take holidays etc etc. Is it any wonder people have stayed away in droves.

And those Olympic tourists who are here seem to be staying in the east end and not venturing very much further.

Sales in the West End stores are down about a third compared to normal years, theatre bookings are about the same, the big tourist attractions are the same.

it's not as bad as it was hyped up to be, and London CAN cope

, as you put it because there is hardly anyone there when compared to a normal year. And of course TfL have been running a "stay out of London" campaign.

I read that in a normal summer there are around 300k foreign visitors a day in the capital, the current numbers are about 100k.

Even Weymouth in Dorset has been hit - with signs as far away as Southampton and Bristol telling people of expected delays - and people have stayed away - I'm not sure how much is down to the Olympics and how much is down to the poor weather. The town had been told to expect an extra 30k visitors and they haven't materialised. I have been a regular day visitor to Weymouth for years - we go diving from there - but not this summer.

I read that Windsor (rowing) was the same.

I was on the A1 before the opening ceremony and there were signs telling you to expect delays going to Lee Valley.

So over hyped expectations from the media, government and Logoc, dire warnings about the ability to travel, not only around London but other parts of the country too. Hoteliers trying to profiteer, retailers selling expensive Olympic tat. And people have stayed away.

Most cities that have hosted the olympics don't actually come out of it very well - Atlanta, Sydney, Athens and I'm not sure about Beijing. The one that stands out has having done well out them is Barcelona.

Before 1992 Barcelona was a relatively unknown city, it didn't have the profile of an Athens, Sydney or London - although people had been going to the Costas for years, Barcelona and it's attractions, it's architecture and culture were relatively unknown to most people, and came as a very pleasant surprise to a lot of people - Barcelona was suddenly on the tourist map. And then we had the arrival of low cost travel which meant Barcelona became a big weekend destination. People don't got to Barcelona to visit the Olympic stadium (entrance is free if you are interested) - the only stadium most people want to see is the football stadium and the entrance to that is around 22euros.

London doesn't have any of those advantages, it is one of the most visited and well known cities in the world.

Then you have the tv coverage and the likelihood of people seeing London on the tele and deciding - I must go and visit. Most sports fans have a particularly narrow focus (in my experience) and won't be interested in anything other than sport - one event finishes and they will move on to the next one.

Olympic tourists are different to your normal tourist, they are there because they are interested in sport and their spending habits will be totally different from someone coming to London to "do the sights". Then you have the thousands of press and officials - their spending habits will be different from a tourist too.

It's alright in a couple of months London will be history and all eyes will be on Rio.

And we will be left to pick up the bill.

Ericparke

Very interesting post... Thanks