London Calling - But who will heed the sirens?
By Brian Salter (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2012-07-05 17:37
With less than a month now to the start of the London Olympics, many are openly wondering if the British capital can possibly hope to compete with its predecessor, Beijing. Even now, four years on, the Beijing Olympics is widely regarded as setting a new benchmark among Olympic venues of recent years.
It's estimated that between July and September 2012, the UK will be the focus of world attention, with some 4 billion people around the globe likely to be watching the Games. More than 10,000 athletes are participating, 8.6 million tickets will be available (or not, as the case may be!), with another 1.5 million for the Paralympic Games. And 300,000 tourists are expected to travel to the Games from outside the UK.
What a great shop window for Great Britain plc! Or is it?
The contrast between the two capital cities in the way they prepared for the off could not be more stark. OK, the Brits are always predisposed to moan and gripe, particularly on big occasions. But everywhere in doom-laden Britain, where whingeing appears to be a national pastime, the howls of complaints seem to grow louder every day.
The long-held perception by many people abroad, is that London is rainy and overpriced, with dreadful food. In fact, it rains less in London than in either Paris or New York. But the Olympic organizers appear to be doing little not to confirm other stereotypes.
Even the Deputy Mayor of London, Kit Malthouse, got in on the act when he surprisingly declared that London's image could suffer from hosting the Olympics if visitors leave believing the city is poor value for money. "We are conscious some cities have made a mess of it," he said. "There have been notable problems with the Games. Atlanta never really recovered. We are determined to get it right."
Brave words indeed, when many travel operators are warning that inflated prices of hotel rooms in the capital during July and August have led to reported bookings being as much as 30% down year on year and show no sign of picking up. Malthouse said the recent furore over border queues at Heathrow airport had not helped either. "The stories about Heathrow are a massive deterrent," he added.
Many Londoners feel disconnected and even excluded from the Olympics, an event which is right on their doorstep but mostly inaccessible to them. The brand new stadia are fenced off behind barbed wire, with anti-aircraft gun emplacements positioned on tower blocks. And though no one knows right now what the legacy of these sporting facilities will be for urban regeneration, it has all massively contributed to the Olympics unpopularity, and people's loss of interest.
Ticketing has been the most contentious issue in the run-up to the Games. The ticketing process was criticized after a catalogue of failures, which meant many people could not buy tickets online, or purchased them only to be told later that their seats no longer existed. And then, as if to add insult to injury, more than 43,000 Olympics tickets – some for the most-coveted events such as athletics, swimming and the opening ceremony – were suddenly added to the pool available after many people had blown their budgets on lesser-known sports in the belief that the most popular events had already sold out.
