There is good news for Olympic fans struggling to find hotel rooms in London this summer- thousands of London commercial property hotel rooms are no longer needed for Olympic officials, media and others during the Games and have been put back on sale to the public.
The London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) had reserved around 600,000 room nights over the two weeks of the Games, however more than 120,000 commercial property hotel rooms are no longer required.
The rooms had been reserved to provide accommodation for global sport federations, the media, International Olympic Committee, Games workers and sponsors. The commercial property hotel rooms were booked under a deal back in 2005, at more than 200 hotels, ranging from five-star to budget accommodation.
Hundreds of thousands of visitors are likely to flock to London for the July 27 to August 12 Games, whether ticket holders or not.
A tourism spokesperson said the availability was a “timely boost”.
As part of the deal, LOCOG promised to return any unwanted rooms back to the commercial property hotels so they could sell them in time for the 2012 Games-which they are now doing. The number of rooms being returned equate to about 20 per cent of hotel room nights originally reserved in London.
Chief Executive officer of LOCOG, Paul Deighton said: “We always promised that we would not hold on to hotel rooms we didn’t need but return them to the individual hotels at the beginning of 2012.
“We are now doing this and I hope that this enables the hotels to continue with their planning for this summer as we all work together to stage a spectacular Games.”
Sandie Dawe, Chief Executive Officer of Visit Britain national tourism agency, which promotes tourism in the country, said: “The fact that such a wide spread of rooms in London will now be made available to the public is great news for overseas visitors wishing to come to the UK to experience the Olympics and all the other wonderful festivities that are taking place over the summer.”
She further added: “This is an important and timely boost foe the sector as it looks to enhance the image of the UK as a destination of choice, showcasing the very best of what Britain has to offer overseas visitors and helping create a tourism legacy for years to come.”
However, not everyone believes the news is so positive, with some in the tourism industry warning that prices had risen too fast before the new rooms were offered, and many potential visitors have been put off staying in London.
Managing Director of sightseeing operator Premium Tours, Neil Wootton, told The Independent newspaper: “Prices have been so high that tourists are moving elsewhere.”
