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Like all major events to take place in Britain, especially those that have been so eagerly anticipated, there are contrasting opinions of
the Olympics and its effects of businesses. The hospitality industry in particular psyched itself up to take advantage of all the potential new business, while the doubters started to look sceptical.
Now with the Olympics well underway it is a good time to ask what the effect of the greatest sporting event on Earth coming to the UK has had on the capital and the nation's hospitality industry.
Combined with the recession it was predicted that many people would decide to staycation in the UK as opposed to travel abroad. This was picked up by various marketing organisations asking, why go away when there's so much happening at home? And this has been the case with many families, but staying at home does not necessarily mean a holiday in a hotel for two weeks, as most take advantage of camping or staying with friends and family.
There has of course been an influx of foreign athletes and even international supporters to attend the Olympics but this is very localised, even within London. The rest of the UK doesn't get a look in and only time will tell how many of these visitors stay on beyond the event and have a holiday in other parts of the country.
In the East End of London where the Olympic Park is situated business is good, with restaurants and pubs enjoying increased custom. Across town in the West End the story is a different matter, as pre-Olympic warnings that public transport would not be able to cope and congestion would be a huge problem have seen people stay away.
A spokesperson for the London Chamber of Commerce said: "It's understandable some people are staying out of the city at the moment. Transport for London and Locog did a good job of making people aware - maybe too good a job."
The summer is a traditionally good time of year for tourism but it could be the case that the Olympics has in fact made it worse for many. Some restaurants in the West End have reported a 70 per cent drop in trade, which is bad news for a period which should be good and one which was touted as being better than ever.
It appears however, that pubs are faring better than restaurants in this respect as they are managing to cash in on the Olympic atmosphere. Those that are showing coverage of the event on large screens are doing particularly well as people get together to share the moment when they cannot get tickets for the venues. Even locals are more likely to go to the pub and watch important events for British sportsmen and women than go to a restaurant.
With such a gold rush in Team GB at present there is a real sense of history being made, which helps to bring people together and the local pub is the natural meeting point.
So it appears that hotels and restaurants may not be doing as well as pubs and bars, but as in most things the key to success with the Olympics with regard to the hospitality industry is location location location.
