London Hoteliers Urged to Learn From Mistakes of Beijing and Royal Wedding

LONDON, July 12, 2011 -

London hoteliers are being urged to keep their rates at
reasonable levels during the Olympic Games next summer to avoid a
repeat of the disappointing turnouts for Beijing 2008 and the
recent Royal Wedding in the city.

Supply was expected to be overwhelmed by demand for the events,
but many hotel owners were forced to revert to their original
prices in attempts to fill their rooms at the last minute. Many of
the visitors that descended on London in April opted to camp on the
streets because of the high rates as hotel occupancy levels fell
during the week of the wedding by almost 23% on the previous
year.

Since setting up camp is not an option this time around, price
hikes are being discouraged to attract as many visitors to London
as possible. The capital is expecting an estimated influx of “at
least a million extra people,” according to the chairman of LOCOG,
Lord Sebastian Coe, but even if tourist numbers reach anywhere near
that level, hotel rooms are likely to remain empty if the proposed
hikes go ahead.

Some hoteliers and, indeed, landlords are considering more than
quadrupling their rates during the Games, which threatens to create
a similar effect to that which Beijing experienced when it hosted
the Olympics in 2008. To the bemusement of the capital’s hoteliers,
just over half of the expected 400,000 tourists arrived for the
Games three years ago, leaving tens of thousands of empty
overpriced beds across the city.

Davor Parker of href="www.londonnights.com/">LondonNights, the
established online booking service for London hotels, has expressed
his concerns: “The problem hoteliers face is that so many ticket
holders are now well aware that some hotels and certainly many
landlords offering short term lets are, in some cases, planning to
increase their rates four- or five-fold during the Games, so they
will quite rightly be put off staying with them.

“The price hikes in April kept guests away during the Royal
Wedding when they were expected to come flooding in, so some
hoteliers are now starting to think about hardly increasing their
prices at all to avoid another disappointing turnout.”

With the eyes of the world set to be on the UK for over two
weeks next summer, reasonable room rates could be instrumental in
endorsing long-term tourism in the capital. This, consequently,
reinforces the importance of hoteliers resisting the temptation of
a short-term cash-boost in order to maintain a positive image of
the city as a popular tourist destination for years to come.

“Tourism is precisely what makes this city such an exciting and
diverse place to be, so it would be a huge shame if the industry
comes to suffer in the future as a result of hosting the Olympic
Games,” added Davor Parker.

It is policy for many hotels to limit booking to 300 days in
advance, especially via website aggregators such as Expedia, so the
rates for next summer are due to be released this September.

Availability and rates for LondonNights will be announced
shortly, so, if you are lucky enough to own a ticket to the Olympic
Games and are seeking accommodation, log on to href="www.londonnights.com/">LondonNights.com for all
the relevant updates and information.

London Nights +44(0)845-226-7383

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