Updated on
Summary The Olympics brought less tourist money to recession-hit Britain than officials expected.
A survey of more than 250 tour operators, hoteliers and visitor attractions found that tourist traffic fell all over Britain, not just London, said UKinbound, a leading trade association representing British tour operators, shops and hotels. The survey said 88 percent of British tourism-oriented businesses reported some losses during the games compared to the same period last year.Officials are still tallying up the total number of tourists who came to or avoided London this summer. The capital normally sees about 1.5 million tourists on average in August, but UKinbound and other trade groups say a significant number have chosen to steer clear of London, and even the rest of Britain because they thought it would be too busy.The official visitor figures wont be available until September.Tourism officials say that international Olympics visitors to London, including athletes, officials and tourists, totaled about 300,000. Domestic spectators from Britain made up the majority of people visiting games venues.Restaurants and shops have complained that these games visitors did not spend as much money on food and shopping as typical summer tourists.Londons hotels have hit about 80 percent occupancy, which is not higher than typical August rates, Quest added.There were some positive signs. Visa, the only credit card accepted at the Olympics venues, reported thatinternational visitors to Britain spent more than 450 million pounds ($705 million) on their cards during the first week of the games, up by 8 percent on the same time last year.Around 12.7 million pounds were spent on Visa cards in London restaurants last week, an increase of almost 20 percent on a year ago.
