Weymouth, the seaside town in Dorset, UK, has recently seen an increase in holiday cottage bookings from foreign visitors for the summer of 2012, fuelled by interest in the upcoming Olympic Games, commencing this July.
Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour in Dorset are hosting the sailing competitions for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. The area has natural vantage points for watching the events, even for visitors who are not able to acquire tickets to the Games’ waterside viewing areas. The region will be hosting around 13 events during the Olympics, and has previous experience of hosting many other international sailing events.
Hideaways, a UK-based holiday cottage company, has reported an increase in bookings for its self-catering holiday cottages by European Union nationals for the summer of 2012, when compared to the same period last year.
As tourism in the Weymouth and Portland Harbour areas increases, it appears that in addition to watching the Olympic events, the visiting EU nationals are opting to add a UK holiday to their trip, as is evident from the growing number of bookings for hotels and holiday cottages that companies in the area are receiving by the day.
Says Nick Pash, owner of Hideaways, ‘We have seen an increase in the number of bookings for our holiday cottages in Dorset from people that are planning on attending the events in Weymouth and Portland. There have been more bookings from European visitors, who have said they are combining their trips to the games with a holiday in Dorset.’
