The Olympic Legacy

UKinbound, a trade organisation representing the UK’s inbound tourism business, has issued a warning to the British government not to squander the ‘goodwill’ that its £9-billion investment in the 2012 Olympics has brought to London and the rest of the UK. The company’s recently published Olympic Business Barometer has shown that during the period 23 July-12 August, 66 per cent of UKinbound members surveyed reported significantly lower year-on-year inbound tourism bookings, while 22 per cent reported that they were slightly lower. Meanwhile, 89 per cent stated that bookings and visitors numbers for the post-Olympic period of 13 August-9 September were either lower or significantly lower year-on-year, and 72 per cent of members agreed with the statement that ‘lack of accommodation for advanced booked groups in London had adversely affected destinations around the UK’ during the Games. UKinbound has also blamed inadequate airport capacity, as well as overly lengthy processing times for foreign visas, as more general areas where the UK’s tourism industry is in need of attention. “Now is not the time to pat each other on the back and say job well done,” says Mary Rance, chief executive of UKinbound. “Along with the successes and highlights, there have been some major disappointments, including a significant reduction in the number of visitors to London and the UK compared to summer 2011. If the Government is going to succeed in their ambition of welcoming 40 million visitors by 2020, there must be a genuine determination to attract overseas visitors at a time when the ‘Olympic’ effect no longer exists.”   It is of course too early to truly measure what positive or negative effects the Olympic legacy will have for the UK. But can lessons be learned from its effects on previous host countries, beyond the short-term publicity and attention drawn during the event itself? Beijing enjoys a much-improved public transportation system as a result of the previous Olympics, but many of the sporting arenas constructed specially â€" and at great cost â€" for the 2008 Games have struggled to recoup costs, with some referring to them as ‘white elephants’ that the government is reluctant to fully commercialise. The Bird’s Nest main stadium, for example, while occasionally paying host to football matches, will take an estimated three decades to make back the three billion yuan (US$480 million) that it cost to build, according to management estimates. However, the Bird’s Nest and other venues such as the Water Cube aquatics centre do pull in decent numbers of tourists, with around 4.61 million visitors coming to see them in 2011 (although the Water Cube lost 11 million yuan in the same year, and the numbers of tourists visiting the Bird’s Nest reportedly halved in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010). Some would argue that the mere presence of such iconic structures is a positive â€" if not necessarily quantifiable â€" legacy, and Wang Hui, director of the Beijing Information Office and one of the official spokespeople of the 2008 Games, has called the legacy ‘multifaceted’. “Beijing has become more cosmopolitan, more international,” she said. “The Olympics has boosted our national pride and China’s image overseas.” Many Chinese remain displaced, however, after old streets were demolished to make way for new skyscrapers, and a number of flagship ‘green’ projects have languished, leaving Beijing’s pollution indexes at record highs. Looking further back, how has Athens fared since it hosted the 2004 Olympics? Taking into account Greece’s somewhat precarious financial state, many would doubtless be quick to say that the legacy of the Games has brought little to the country, and to the host city. But the estimated €8.9-billion cost of the 2004 Games, while by no means an insignificant sum, represents only four per cent of Greece’s overall debt, and much of it was spent on transport infrastructure â€" the Athens Metro, Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport etc. â€" that is still in use now. Furthermore, its Olympic stadium is still in use, providing a home for Panathinaikos and AEK football clubs and hosting events such as the 2007 Champion’s League Final â€" in fact, the majority of the purpose-built Olympic arenas are still fully operational. The Olympic Indoor Hall is used for international basketball competitions and is the home of Panathinaikos BC, the Aquatics Centre hosts domestic and international swimming meets as well as acting as a public pool, the Velodrome is used for domestic and international cycling meets, and other sites have been turned into academic and shopping centres. Tourist arrivals to Greece also generally increased in the years following the Games, with arrivals reaching record highs of 16 million by 2007 (shortly before countries began to feel the recession bite), and although the ongoing fallout from the Eurozone crisis has seen a significant drop-off in tourist arrivals, there are a multitude of non-Olympic factors to consider when assigning blame. The UK government seems confident that it can capitalise on its Olympic legacy in a way that previous host nations â€" arguably â€" have not fully managed, and bring an estimated £19 billion of tourism to the UK economy. But although the government is undoubtedly in a strong position, with the opportunity to analyse the pros and cons of previous hosts’ approaches and see what lessons can be learned, whether it will choose to learn these lessons is another matter. “There is a strong desire and passion from our members,” adds Mary Rance, “to ensure that Government inbound visitor targets are reached. What we want to see from the Government is that same desire, passion, and importantly, action.” ShareThis Powered By iWebRSS.co.cc