By
Alex Brummer
17:52 EST, 31 July 2012
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17:57 EST, 31 July 2012
By conjuring up images of London becoming overwhelmed with visitors and by constantly warning about potential traffic problems, Boris Johnson and his City Hall colleagues successfully convinced people to keep out of the capital during the Olympics.
This was achieved by a combination of countless temporary road signs which advised motorists to avoid the city during the Games and the provision of controversial Zil lanes reserved for Olympic dignitaries.
Then of course there were Mayor Boris’s own jaunty public Tannoy announcements that told travellers about ‘huge pressure’ on the transport network and booming: ‘Don’t get caught out. Get online and plan your journey.’
So much for the chaos! The London underground has been almost disconcertingly quiet… despite Boris Johnson’s public Tannoy announcements urging commuters to ‘be prepared’
It took just 72 hours after the Olympics began for it to become clear that a calamitous error had been made and that London had turned into a ghost city.
The truth is that the much-trumpeted economic boost from the Olympics seems to be a mirage. How different the reality is from Tony Blair’s bombastic declaration in 2005 that this would be ‘a once-in-an-era opportunity for British tourism’.
In panic, Mr Johnson ordered the traffic warnings to be turned off and most of the Zil lanes to be opened to all traffic. But the damage had already been done.
Boris and his Transport for London colleagues, though, are not solely responsible for this sabotage of Britain’s economic engine room.
Despite the worst economic crisis for generations, cosseted Whitehall civil servants have been allowed to work from home for six weeks so the poor lambs don’t suffer any travel disruption during the Olympics.
Eery: Shopping centres, such as Westfield in Shepherd’s Bush, have seen a distinct lack of shoppers
Andrew Lloyd Webber added to the gloom by predicting the Games would be ‘a bloodbath’ for West End theatre and closing three of his seven London theatres during the Olympics.
The truth is that such Armageddon warnings about an extra one million people being in central London simply scared people away. Added to this is the fact that many thousands of disappointed London families who failed to secure tickets for Olympic events via the complicated ballot system decided to book holidays and fled the city.
So what happened to the predictions for a commercial bonanza that would lift Britain out of its rain-sodden, double-dip recession and boost spending?
Not only is there a shortage of tourists pouring into London with bulging wallets, but some hoteliers who originally raised prices in the hope of a huge extra demand are reporting that bookings are 30 per cent down on last summer and they have been forced to heavily discount the price of empty rooms.
And as for the supposed economic boost from Olympic venue construction projects, now the work is finished and the cranes are starting to vanish from the skyline, the construction industry is taking a dive.
The one man who must be looking at this bleak picture with the greatest foreboding is the Chancellor, George Osborne.
Ahead of the Games, a boastful statement from Downing Street announced that in parallel with the Games, the Government would be seeking to put the ‘Great’ back into Britain. This would involve a series of investor conferences which would bring 3,000 international business leaders to London. The potential benefit, it was claimed, would be a £13billion boost to the economy, with British businessmen using the conference to sell their products and raise £1billion in extra sales.
So far, though, the only really big corporate fruit being borne from this venture has come from the giant US conglomerate General Electric, which provided $1billion of equipment to the Olympics. This included lighting for the sporting venues, a health clinic for athletes and electrical equipment in the velodrome.
Of course, $1billion (£637million) is not to be sniffed at but it’s a great shame that this is a US company and that it makes most of its material outside Britain.
Showcase: Ahead of the Games, the Government boasted that they would be seeking to put the ‘Great’ back into Britain
Ghostly: Popular Oxford Street appeared to be deserted on Tuesday, as local businesses also said they were suffering with lack of business, despite high expectations
Mr Osborne should have been warned about hubristic targets being set for the economy being boosted by a one-off event such as the Olympics.
Already our economic growth has been damaged by the Diamond Jubilee Bank Holidays (and the unusually wet weather in spring and early summer).
If this is the effect of one day’s lost production, albeit nationwide, just imagine the amount of damage that could be wrought by two weeks of sub-normal commercial activity in London.
All this at a time when hard-pressed households are still suffering large falls in disposable income. Figures from the employers’ group, the CBI, show that in July, as the Olympics were getting under way, retail sales slowed by far more than expected.
The resurgent car industry might be performing strongly but 70 per cent of the UK’s wealth comes from the services sector, which is mostly concentrated in the South East. With scare stories about traffic problems during the Olympics having kept many more people than intended away from productive employment, the cost to Britain plc could be considerable.
Scared away: Overall visitor numbers to London have reportedly declined sharply despite the influx of tourists flocking to the London 2012 Olympic Games
Moreover, this couldn’t have happened at a more inopportune time. For the most important part of that service economy, the financial sector, is struggling against the background of a series of major problems such as the Libor interest rate-fixing scandal at Barclays to large-scale money-laundering of Mexican drug money at HSBC.
Meanwhile, history shows that the biggest short-term benefit from Olympic Games tends to come from spending on goods and services directly associated with the events, such as the temporary employment of staff, security and retailers close to the stadiums.
City experts originally estimated the value of this at £2billion. However, there are fears that on current evidence this might not be achieved at London 2012.
Before Parliament closed for a ‘glorious Olympic summer’, the Chancellor began the process of putting in place a series of measures to boost Britain’s economic output. This included bringing forward major infrastructure projects such as new railways and roads and earmarking £80billion for ‘funding for lending’ designed to support loans to small businesses and households.
But the economic cost of London 2012 – billed as the great showpiece event of the early 21st Century – has been high.
The great worry now must be that instead of rousing Britain from its lethargy and a double-dip recession, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restore national confidence and pride has been squandered by organisers fixated on their own well-being rather than the greater good of the nation.
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Once the triumph of the opening ceremony was over, that was it as far as the Olympics is concerned for many. It’s like Christmas, the anticipation and build up leading to a real anti-climax when it’s over. There are really many sports that are that interesting to watch.
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Mitt Romney, the next president of the United States that you Brits insulted and humiliated managed to turn a 100 million dollar profit when he ran the Olympic games in Utah. Let’s see if you can pull that off.
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Returning from Hastings the other night, steered well clear of london (M25 signs displaying avoid london)and got back home reasonably quick. Was going to visit Weymouth again this year but decided not to bother because of the olympics. Seems odd that the politicians organisers have gone out of their way to exclude us yokels from the provinces for THEIR london games, Now it is spectacularly backfiring on them! So, All we need now is for london bankers,politicians organisers to pay for THEIR games and leave the rest of us out of it, after all, we weren’t wanted anywhere near it!! If it was supposed to benefit the WHOLE country, why was a perfectly good venue The ‘NATIONAL’ Water Sports Centre here in Nottingham, Not used for the Rowing/ Kayaking events? Or Burghley Hickstead for the equine sports? London has snubbed us, we’re now returning the favour!!! Red arrow away, but there’s a hell of a lot of us feeling Disenfranchised…
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And will any of those responsible for this disastrous glorified school sports day be held accountable? Of course not.
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@ Laura, Scotland, 1/8/2012 2:10
Seriously? You actually believe all that stuff?
Wow.
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No one in their right mind ever thought that the Olympics would be of any financial benefit to anyone other than the corporate sponsors.
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SHAMBLES. I have put this comment in numerous times now.
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I’m sooooo glad I’m far away from all this hassle.
My only concern is the vast amount of money poured down this bottomless pit with nothing coming back.
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First off,, tourism displacement occurs with majority of mega-events, not just the London 2012. It’s standard for tourists to avoid destinations hosting these events due to the threat of increased traffic and increased costs! The same goes for residents leaving the area whilst such events occur. So to insinuate this a problem suffered only by the London Olympics is misinformed and uneducated.
Second of all, the benefits reaped from the event are not just all short term economic, the bigger picture should be looked at. Hosting the event is going to increase the UKs profile, boosting tourism in the future and highlight the UK as a suitable place for future events. The socio-cultural benefits are plentiful including civic pride and increasing interest in sport; something that the UKs health could do with!
I could go on here about the benefits of the event, I think consideration should be given that the true worth of the event won’t be realised until long after the event is finished.
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I have given up on trying to get tickets to the Olympics even though I registered as soon as it was possible and tried to get all the ‘offers’ when the site bombarded me with emails. I would visit London to get a feel for the atmosphere. The reality is, that it is cheaper to book a return flight to Venice from East midlands than it is to go to London on public transport from Derbyshire. In addition, a four star hotel in Mestri, a 15 minute bus ride from Venice, is cheaper than an hotel in London. I am not bothering with London at all this year.
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