London 2012: 50% drop in bookings

Yesterday was 100 days before the starting of London Olympics Games. In that occasion the travel business analysts drow some conclusions about the currently hotel bookings.

The UK inbound chief executive Mary Rance said that London Tour operators have seen a 50% drop in inbound bookings. This drop concerns the third quarter of the year and that period covers the Olympics Games.

Mary Rance said that also during the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, from April to June 2012, the bookings were down 25%.

The main problem has been found in the High air taxes that are getting stuck people vising the London Olympics. In particular the arrivals from Australia will be 25% down and those from New Zealand will be 26% down. "It is clear that Air Passenger Duty is a major contributing factor deterring the regular visitors from coming to the UK" she said.

The chief executive of the Guild of Travel Management Companies, Anne Godfrey, is of the same advice: "The tax avoidance measures that passengers are taking to get around paying APD are hardly surprising". This situation isn’t good for UK business, the travelling public and the economy in general.