The Olympic Games 2012 will boost travel to London by 31 percent in 2012, when compared to 2011, with most travellers visiting from the US and Germany, according to recent research carried out by Amadeus IT Group, a US-based company and technology provider for the travel industry.
The research, conducted in collaboration with Forward Data SL, a market research and consulting company, has cited that travel to London is likely to increase considerably during the Games duration, with a 143 percent increase on July 26, 2012, the day before the 2012 Olympic Games commence, compared to the same day in 2011. There will be around an 80 percent increase in US travellers to London during the Games, closely followed by an increase in German travellers, compared to the same period in 2011.
Apart from the US and Germany, most games fans are expected to arrive in London from Brussels, Amsterdam, and Paris, and in far greater numbers than in previous years.
Holger Taubmann, the senior vice president of distribution at Amadeus, said, ‘Increasingly, companies are relying on hard data to make business decisions. This data provides valuable insights to ensure all players in the travel industry are ready and able to maximise the opportunities come Games-time. For instance, it could help airlines make decisions on the benefits of increasing the capacity and frequency on a given route to meet travellers’ demands or consider targeting customers with air-rail combined trip offers.’
The travel data is based on definite air booking data available at present, for the period from July 23 to August 12, 2012. The research aims to translate how the London 2012 Olympics is impacting on travel trends worldwide.
