While the recently concluded Olympics games in London saw a surge of visitors to the city, hotel booking sites have reported a reduction in bookings during the period.
HouseTrip.com, one of the UK-based holiday rental websites, has released statistics for its bookings during the Olympic games. Bookings for the 16-day Olympic period have decreased by 10 percent from the same period last year, while bookings immediately before and after the games have increased by 40 percent, as large numbers of visitors appeared keen to enjoy the Olympic fever, but less keen to pay astronomical accommodation charges.
The company statistics also showed that more than 50 percent of Olympic bookings were made a minimum of six-months in advance, for an average price of GBP153 per property, per night, for the period.
Arnaud Bertrand, the chief executive officer of HouseTrip, said, ‘Those who took advantage of the price gouging of London hotels early by listing their properties and pricing them affordably reaped the biggest rewards. But the big opportunities haven’t ended with the Games. In fact, the Olympics have proven to be just the tip of the iceberg.
With the higher profile of London, we anticipate that interest will continue to soar. While the games period has caused a loss from our larger domestic and French markets, the interest in London and strong London brand image created by the games has translated into booming numbers as the year continues.
We look at the Games as an investment into the future and have large-scale investment plans scheduled for the future to capitalise on this interest.’
