Expert insights. Planning for the 2012 London Olympics.
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Expert insights.
Planning for the 2012 London Olympics.
The increase in demand
for services during the
Olympics will affect the
cost and availability of travel.
London’s population is set to explode in addition, there are a number of other Impact on the travel industry
July next year as spectators from around major events occurring in London
The cost and availability of air travel
the world converge in the city to celebrate over the summer that will place further
and accommodation will be the major
the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games strain on the travel industry and local
concerns for corporates during the
(27 July – 9 September). While the infrastructure including: Wimbledon
UK summer, particularly during the
Olympics are expected to bring in billions (25 June – 8 July), Ramadan (20 July –
Olympics. Due to the nature of supply
of pounds worth of trade and commerce 18 August) and Notting Hill Carnival
and demand, prices for air travel, ground
to the UK, the influx of visitors to London (26-27 August). See page 3 for
transport and accommodation are
will place extraordinary pressure on local full details.
expected to rise as availability closes out
infrastructure, air travel, accommodation One of the biggest issues for the UK in the lead up to the games. Businesses
and ground transport. government is transport. Currently there need to start planning now in preparation
The increase in demand for services are 3.5 million daily journeys made by for the peak period.
as a result of the Olympics and other local residents or visitors on the London
major events happening from June to Underground system. During the games Air travel
September in London will affect the cost London’s transport system will have to Inbound travel to London will be
and availability of travel. Businesses are support an estimated 20 million extra significantly affected. There could be
advised to start planning now for the UK’s trips made by spectators (ref: ODA). discounts for outbound travel as airlines
biggest and busiest summer in history. Organisers also estimate that on the try to fill seats on flights out of London.
busiest day of the games, the city’s A number of airlines are considering
What to expect transport systems will have to absorb extra capacity and it’s expected that
Come July next year, London will be up to three million additional trips some carriers could release a range of
buzzing as millions of visitors flock to the made by spectators commuting to ‘early-bird’ specials. Travellers will need
city to see the world’s greatest sporting Olympic events. to book as early as possible to avoid
event. A total of 8.8 million tickets are Organisations with offices in London paying premium prices closer to the
available for the 16-day Olympics and and elsewhere in the UK where Olympic event. Prices inevitably will increase as
a further two million tickets have been events are being hosted can expect discount tickets start to disappear.
released for the 11-day Paralympic staff, customer and visitor transport to be
Games (ref: Olympic Delivery Authority affected by the high demand on services Hotels
or ODA). The games will be hosted in as well schedule changes for deliveries, Hotels and property chains located
34 venues across Greater London. In collections and freight operations. in central London were required to
allocate a certain number of rooms to Ground transport
the London Organising Committee of the
Rail: It is expected that advance tickets
Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Key Dates
•
will not be available in peak travel times
(LOCOG). While some properties located
during the Olympics. Corporate Traveller Olympic Games
in the official Olympic media/press area
also expects that train carriages may be
in central London have been required to 27 July – 12 August 2012
•
declassified and that extra carriages will
allocate their entire inventory to LOCOG,
be put on to cope with demand. London
others have committed 60-70 per cent of Transition period
commuters are being advised there
their inventory to the committee.
will be a number of very busy rail 13 – 28 August 2012
The combination of limited hotel room
supply and the increase in demand
from the influx of visitors to London will
hotspots including:
yy The West End • Paralympic Games
29 August –
impact hotel prices. While rates for rooms yy Westminster
9 September 2012
committed to LOCOG have been capped, yy Bank
prices for the remaining inventory, yy The South Bank from Waterloo (Reference: Olympic Delivery Authority
according to travel industry suppliers, will Keep on Running)
to London Bridge
be subject to supply and demand, and
yy Canary Wharf
therefore potential increases. Some of
the demand however will be absorbed by yy Stratford and Canning Town
new hotel supply released to the market yy Liverpool Street
over the next 12 months. STR Global’s yy King’s Cross St Pancras.
Fast Facts
pipeline data indicates another 4,876
new hotel rooms are currently under
construction in Greater London.
The ODA estimates that 80 per cent of
spectators attending events in Greater
• 20 million – trips will be made by
spectators within London during
•
London will travel by rail including the the games
Quite a few UK hotels have not yet set
London Underground and Docklands 3 million – trips to be made by
their rates for the games period nor are
Light Railway. The Jubilee Line and
•
they taking bookings. It is understood spectators on the busiest day
Central Line, as key routes to the
that those properties are currently 10.8 million – tickets are on sale
Olympic Park will be significantly busier
•
logging enquiries only. Other properties for the London 2012 Games
than usual during the peak game period.
have said there has been ‘very high 800,000 – people are expected
The Northern Line is also expected to be
demand’ for their non-LOCOG rooms to use public transport to travel
heavily impacted.
and that minimum length of stay and
•
to the games on the busiest day
rate/spend requirements will apply Eurostar: Advance Eurostar fares will
be available during the peak games 100% - is the target for proportion
during the peak games period.
period and will be priced within the of spectators travelling to the
Numerous properties are also allocating games by public transport,
a certain number of rooms to their top current fare range however they could
•
have a different set of terms and walking or cycling
corporate clientele including travel
conditions attached to them. All Eurostar 80% - of spectators attending the
management companies (TMCs) such
tickets purchased four months before events in Greater London will
as Corporate Traveller. Additionally
departure or later will revert to the normal travel by rail including the
some properties have introduced
pricing schedule. London Underground
‘black-out dates’ from July to September.
Businesses that have issued RFPs to Road and river services: Throughout (Reference: Olympic Delivery Authority
these properties for client preferred hotel Greater London, road and river services Keep on Running)
programs will be advised on availability will be heavily impacted as a result
and rates for this period at a later date. of high demand and road closures
www.corptraveller.co.uk
London Event Calendar Summer 2012
Wimbledon Ramadan
25 Jun – 8 Jul 20 Jul – 18 Aug
Epsom Derby Henley Regatta Farnborough Airshow EID UL-FITR London Fashion Week
1-2 Jun 27 Jun – 1 Jul 9-15 Jul 19-22 Aug Sept
Queen Elizabeth
Diamond Jubilee World Pride Festival Notting Hill Carnival
2-5 Jun 23 Jun – 8 Jul 26-27 Aug
JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPT
London 2012 Festival 21 Jun – 9 Sept
Middle Eastern Travellers 13 Jun – 19 Jul Olympic Games 27 Jul – 12 Aug Paralympic Games 29 Aug – 9 Sept
Torch Relay 18 May – 27 Jul Paralympic Torch 1-29 Aug
Main Media Centre Open Olympic Village Open Non-Accredited Main Media Centre Open
26 Jun – 12 Sept (EST) 26 Jun – 12 Sept (EST) 26 Jun – 12 Sept (EST)
around the Olympic Route Network alternatives are available. Consider yy consider accommodation options
and Paralympic Route Network, which bringing forward or postponing meeting outside Greater London
at various stages will be temporarily dates or conduct meetings outside of yy consider alternative meeting
closed to traffic. Parking controls will be London. If travel to the UK is critical methods (conference calls, web or
in place around each Olympic venue. during this period, plan ahead with video conferencing)
Roads that will be affected around the Corporate Traveller to secure availability
yy allow enough time for travel to and
venues outside London include: Eton and pricing that is in line with your
from the airport as well as additional
Dorney, Hadleigh Farm, Lee Valley, travel policy.
time for security and visa checks at
White Water Centre, Weymouth, Portland For international travel to and from
the airport.
and regional football stadiums such as London during the peak summer period
Cardiff and Manchester to name a few. Corporate Traveller recommends: For domestic travel in the UK:
Additionally buses and coaches will be yy purchase air tickets and yy reduce non-essential journeys during
transporting spectators from local rail accommodation as early as possible. the peak games period
stations and park-and-ride sites used Inbound air traffic is likely to be heavily yy reschedule trips or meetings to avoid
by the venues. This extra demand will affected during the games period busy periods
result in roads and public transport
yy explore the option of using yy re-route trips to avoid busy
being busier through the day, particularly
alternative airports locations and try to use less busy
during peak commuter periods.
yy consider travelling at non-peak times modes of transport
Best practice travel strategies yy consider using alternative modes yy if your organisation is based in central
During the peak Olympic period and different classes of travel where London consider relocating staff to
businesses should reconsider all feasible and carefully assess the need offices outside the impacted area or
non-essential travel and look at what for all travel ask if staff can work from homeyy if travelling within the UK, factor Sydney Olympics 2000: Australia
in extra time for potential road, rail “Corporate Traveller delivered exceptional
or domestic air travel delays. service to clients during the 2000 Sydney
Olympics. We introduced a number of
Plan ahead key strategies as part of our advance
Organisations are advised to start planning, which ensured there were no
planning for the 2012 London Olympics major disruptions for our travellers.
as soon as possible. For companies These strategies included:
travelling to or within London during this
yy at our quarterly client reviews we
time, forward preparation is the key, as
gained a thorough understanding
last minute plans may end up costing
of our clients’ forward travel and
your business significantly more time
advance bookings to ensure the
and money.
availability of product was in line with
While some companies will use their travel policies eg lowest airfares
alternative travel and meeting options yy through extensive hotel sourcing
during the peak games period, those that was backed by parent company
travelling to or within the UK, may Flight Centre Limited, Corporate
benefit from a ‘travel action plan’ Traveller provided a wide range
including guidelines and policies for of accommodation solutions that
managing travel before and during this were available to our clients at very
period. Your organisation may also competitive rates
need to start thinking about your travel
yy Corporate Traveller worked
policy and if temporary measures or proactively with our product division.
changes need to be implemented. If you As part of this we liaised closely with
do intend to introduce any new policies air suppliers to understand demand
ensure these are clearly communicated versus availability. We managed this
to staff. issue by providing alternatives to
During the next few months Corporate clients as the need arose.
Traveller will be conducting client review yy Corporate Traveller’s operations
meetings to help your organisation were temporarily restructured to
assess and plan its business travel suit the needs of our clients during
in 2012. Contact your Corporate this period; this involved offering
Traveller team for further information or clients extended operating hours
if you think your business travel will be to deal with peak periods.”
impacted by the Olympics. Elaine Temple, State Manager
New South Wales / Australian Capital
Service continuity
Territory, Flight Centre Limited.
Corporate Traveller’s experience in
preparing customers and managing Commonwealth Games 2010: India
travel during major global events “Our corporate division in India ensured
ensures service continuity for our clients. clients were prepared by building a
The following comments from Corporate full and actionable picture of what was
Traveller leaders around the world expected during the Commonwealth
demonstrate our expertise in this area. Games. We educated customers and
www.corptraveller.co.ukhelped them to plan ahead by holding
meetings with senior stakeholders from
each company. This ensured there was
no major deviation from company travel
policies during the games. Our proactive
approach to managing travel during
this period involved a dedicated team
of specialists that worked with clients
where required to coordinate alternative
arrangements for meetings and events
held outside of Delhi. These strategies
helped to deflect the surge in demand
during the games resulting in reduced
travel spend for clients. Our commitment to
customer service, including an airport team
that took control of last minute changes
for clients, delivered personal and timely
service even during the peak rush hours.”
Naren Nautiyal, Chief Executive Officer,
to the North Island as a result of the
Flight Centre Limited India.
Christchurch earthquake will place further
Rugby World Cup September 2011: pressure on infrastructure and increase about
New Zealand demand for air, hotel and car hire service in corporate traveller.
northern New Zealand. Corporate Traveller is a leading travel
“The Rugby World Cup (RWC) will be a
huge event for New Zealand. The influx of While we have urged business travellers management specialist for the SME
travellers while excellent for the economy, to postpone any non-critical travel market. We offer a unique combination
will create additional demand on transport during this time, we understand it’s not of expert advice, local personal service
infrastructure, rental vehicles, hotels and air possible in all cases. Our consultants are and global negotiating strength to
specialists and think outside the square to maximise your savings.
travel. These service providers appreciate
that RWC will come and go but that find transportation and accommodation The Corporate Traveller team is the
corporate clients are a fundamental part options during peak periods. We are able best in the business. Our travel experts
of their business. As a result they will be to book charter flights, helicopters and are highly experienced and have
look at hiring homes and apartments, exceptional product knowledge to
working hard to ensure they can continue
where available. We have also arranged for deliver airfare and accommodation
to service the needs of their corporate
meetings and conferences to be held away options that will have an immediate
clients throughout.
from major cities where there is greater and positive impact on your bottom
Corporate Traveller in New Zealand line. Our flexible business model
availability for accommodation and flights.
started to prepare its clients in 2010, is shaped to match the distinctive
holding discussions with key contacts, We will continue to work closely with needs of SMEs, enabling us to better
providing traveller update memos as well suppliers throughout the event to mitigate understand your travel requirements,
as conducting meetings with procurement potential disruptions for clients.” offer tailored solutions and build
teams to discuss best practice booking Andy Jack, National Leader of Account long-term partnerships.
behaviour ahead of the RWC. The fact that Management, Corporate Traveller
quarter-final games have been moved New Zealand.Map of affected areas
London
Lee Valley
Haringey
Waltham
Forest
Redbridge
Wembley
Arena
Wembley
Stadium Brent Olympic
Park
Camden Stratford International
Islington
Hadleigh, Essex
Lord’s Cricket Regent’s Victoria Stratford
Ground Park Park Regional
British
Newham
Marylebone
Museum Tower
Paddington Hamlets
Ealing Hyde Trafalgar City ExCel
Park Square
Canary London City
Windsor, Eton Potters Wharf Airport
Horse Guard
Parade Fields
Waterloo London North
Bridge Greenwich
Earls Court Arena
Victoria Woolwich
The Royal
Lambeth Southwark Artillery
Greenwich Barracks
Park
Greenwich
Lewisham
Wandsworth
Bexley
Wimbledon
KEY
London 2012 Games venues
Bromley
nd
Merton Live Sites
tla
or
Landmarks
,P
Rail Stations
th
ou
Airports
m
ey
Affected areas
W
FCMBT47187
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