director at corporate incentive firm P&MM Events & Communications, does not believe business travel buyers have begun to turn their attention to the Olympics. “I think they’re more focused on 2012’s overall value processes,” he says. However, he thinks it is time they started to plan ahead. “This will not be a good time to try and do business in London,” he says. “It will be difficult to secure last-minute flights and accommodation, and this will be especially severe during the two-
week peak period of the athletics tournament. The government and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) are already asking businesses to organise for staff to work from home or to change their hours to avoid the peak commuter times.” He continues: “That said,
this is the quietest time of the year for business travellers, with average corporate occupancy rates in hotels falling by over 50 per cent. So the demand
is traditionally a lot lower. In terms of flights, securing last-minute fully flexible air seats will be challenging but potentially possible as these are always the last and most expensive seats to sell.”
On a more positive note, he thinks there may be some unexpectedly affordable corporate hospitality opportunities cropping up. “Reports suggest that official hospitality is only 60 per cent sold, when it should be almost sold out by now,” he says. “So, if you have visitors who are interested in the Games, then you might be able to take them along. But overall, my advice would be to stay at home and watch it on TV...”
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THE INDUSTRY REGULATOR For Mark Tanzer, chief
executive at ABTA, the Games are an opportunity for travel management companies (TMCs) to demonstrate their value. He explains: “Business travellers will clearly have to compete with visitors to the Games for hotel rooms and this may push rates up. However, this represents an ideal opportunity for TMCs to prove their worth to clients by accessing more reasonable deals.”
Tanzer believes travel disruption will be localised. “TfL has estimated that 65 per cent of London tube stations will be unaffected by the Games,” he says. “The venues are largely confined to east London, and are not in the main business areas of the City and West End, so I doubt there will be much impact on business travellers within the capital.” He continues: “In terms of the airports, the UK Border Agency has assured us it has robust contingency plans in place which will minimise any disruption caused by the Games, in particular the large number of competitors and their support teams. Most of the visitors to the Games will be from the UK, and other visitors will avoid or delay trips to London, so we don’t foresee any significant issues with international visitor numbers.”
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THE TRAVEL AGENT Kashan Ashwell is a business
consultant at Travel Counsellors. She has been involved in business travel for 17 years and in recent years has sold annually more than £500,000-worth of business travel. She believes the Games are a definite concern for her clients. “As much as