Thousands of unwanted hotel rooms reserved by Olympic organisers for dignitaries, workers and the media could cost the UK billions in lost tourism.
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog) has said that it over-estimated the amount of hotel rooms needed by a quarter, and will be returning some to hotels.
Having booked more than half a million hotel room nights in London, Locog will be handing around 120,000 back to the hotels.
The rooms range from five-star accommodation to budget hotels in more than 200 hotels across the capital.
But the mass-booking of hotel space has created a surge in room rates in London, putting many regular tourists off visiting this summer.
And research by The Independent has revealed that up to one million beds could go unsold in the capital this summer, costing the hotel industry billions of pounds.
The Independent has estimated that hotel income could slump by as much as £3.5 billion during July and August.
Locog has said that it was always the intention to give any unwanted rooms back to hotels as soon as possible ahead of the Games.
“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,” said Paul Deighton, chief executive of Locog.
“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.”
But the over-booking has come under fire from industry experts, who claim that it is too late for the empty rooms to significantly boost visitor numbers.
“Prices have been so high that tourists are moving elsewhere,” Neil Wootton, managing director of Premium Tours – a London sightseeing operator, told The Independent.
“Overseas wholesalers who traditionally push London have switched to other cities this year. If the Parisian and Italian hoteliers do their job then the tours may never return to London.”
Popular routes to London Include:
Manchester to London
Edinburgh to London
Birmingham to London
(Image: nunoramosilva)
