UK & Ireland TTG Features
Domestic operators predict a surge of London bookings just before and after the Olympics
promoting or avoiding the capital, are expecting a positive result. “We do feel that a high percentage of people will take time off around the Olympics,” says Attraction World head of product and marketing Gail Dunwoodie. “Whether it be to go to London to view one of the competitions or to immerse themselves in the atmosphere – so there is potential for agents to add on some key London attractions to any Olympics booking.” Superbreak says it is too early to judge sales as London breaks traditionally book as late as two weeks in advance. The operator is similarly optimistic, however. “We feel opportunities for us are twofold,” says national sales manager Graham Balmforth. “Between the Olympics and Paralympics there’s a period of two or three weeks where we think we’re going to get some really good offers from hotels. Then, after the Olympics, I
Double strike T
With two major events taking place in the UK this summer, Debbie Ward asks domestic operators how they expect their summer business to be affected
he effect of the Olympics on domestic tourism may still be too early to call, but many operators, whether
think London is going to see a fantastic surge of people wanting to go there because everyone’s been watching it on TV. There are lots of new hotels opening up in the east of London for the Olympics and there’ll be opportunities to offer a stadium tour.”
Good availability Balmforth says there is still availability in London over the Games. “Some hotels are holding on to their allocations but we are getting more bed nights available on a weekly basis, though obviously at slightly inflated prices.” Some of these new releases have three night restrictions but they are still affordable, he says. Theatre breaks have been boosted for Superbreak by new productions like Shrek and Matilda, while a rumoured new star search TV show from Andrew Lloyd Webber based on Jesus Christ Superstaris expected to help further. However, the operator is currently awaiting confirmation that some London theatres will shut down for the duration of the Games.
The ticketless Jubilee concert in the Mall being organised by Gary Barlow is expected to be another “fantastic driver” for London sales this year. Balmforth says the rest of the UK is booking “reasonably well’ and European break sales are on a par with last year. Shearings Holidays has meanwhile seen its domestic holidaymakers avoiding the south east this summer, with extremities like the north of Scotland benefiting. “Scotland has in the past been a bit harder to sell than the south coast of England so Scotland is making a bit of a bounce-back because of it,” says UK holidays manager Matthew Herbert.
Positive outlook Shearings operates a few London tours but will not be running these at the time of the Games. It is however highlighting opportunities to catch the Olympic torch on its travels. “In Windermere is goes right across the front of our
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hotel,” says Herbert. Generally, Shearings’ UK sales are
buoyant with the operator looking for extra availability in areas where it doesn’t have its own hotels. “We’re about 8% up for the year,” Herbert says. Irish Ferries is also seeing strong UK sales. It reports bookings for July and August are already showing an increase over past years, which it believes indicates “significant interest” from Irish tourists for the Games. Bourne Leisure’s head of retail sales Allan Lambert believes the Olympics is just one factor contributing to a positive domestic tourism
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