The preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games being held in London are seeing the national tourism agency VisitBritain looking to showcase the nation’s strengths to the millions of visitors expected before, during and after the Olympic events.
The Olympics news website Around the Rings interviewed CEO of VisitBritain, Sandie Dawe, who explained that the whole of the UK will benefit from London’s event. Ms Dawe explained: “We’re gearing up particularly around offering a fantastic welcome to everybody and to make sure the experience for visitors during the Games is second to none.
“London is already a major visitor destination. But what we’re really interested in is the fact that there will be four billion people watching the Games who don’t necessarily have a great deal of knowledge about London and Britain. So for us to be able to showcase how friendly and welcoming we are, and the fact we can put on a fantastic party and festival — which is the intention around the Games – our strategy is that that will refresh interest in London and Britain as a tourist destination.”
Ms Dawe noted that many developing countries have little knowledge of Britain, and explained that the Games would be an opportunity to market the UK successfully to tourism markets such as India, China, Brazil and Mexico. Ms Dawe also stated that London will be “more than capable of coping with numbers of spectators,” with over 135,000 hotel rooms to house visitors within 50km of the Olympic Park.
