The city of London was declared the winning bid for the 2012 Olympic Games some sixty four years after it last staged the Olympics.
With estimates within the 10’s of millions of Euros as to the price of the 2012 Olympics bid, the ultimate winner was announces as one of three. Paris and London and Abu Dhabi were all contenders and it was a close contest to the wire. With live feeds from cameras in each of the headquarters of the shortlisted countries and in London’s Leicester Square, the announcement was viewed by over 25 millions people and London was finally a winner again. Lord Coe said that we had achieved something special, a coup of coups and the enjoyment of the UK was clear to be seen.
However was winning all it was cracked up to be? Was it time and money well spent? Tax payers cash and to a certain extent, taxpayers time? Nobody will ever actually understand how such an event impacts a nations heritage, and wallet. There would be the inevitable increase in curiosity in London as a world-wide tourist destination and sure, we’ll see more visitors but for those who didn’t know London was one of the world’s great cities, then you don’t know that the Pope is Catholic, or for that matter, have the money to purchase the ticket and stay in the hotels and eat in the restaurants.
Let us have a look at a few of the potential advantages of hosting and Olympic Fortnight;
Infrastructure improvements.
More hotels, roads, trains, tubes, housing, sporting venues, parks, clubs and so on. The price of all of these can, some say, be off set by the development in living standards and the jobs created. Moreover in the long run we do have to enhance the infrastructure on an ongoing basis so are we just spending early, so to speak. Analysis does show that this type of accelerated spending can be a blessing or a curse. White Elephants such as these litter the Olympic map, you only have to look at Greece, however where are the success stories, Australia? Barcelona?
Increased tourism/visits to UK from outside the UK.
Some estimate that as much as 500,000 additional visitors will flock to the UK as a direct result of the Olympics games. Add that to the sales of TV rights, tickets sales, merchandising, and you get the big bucks. Even home owners are finding a method to get in on the action by renting their properties out in favour of leaving the UK for a vacation away from the games. If every visitor spends £750, and at today’s prices that is conservative, then that’s an extra £375 million of trade for the UK. A drop in the ocean until you add the additional trade that the Olympics is likely to stimulate. Some say we may very well be seeing an uplift of £5bln through orders for British goods, new contracts, company hospitality but isn’t that what we’ve the royal family for?
Finally, the benefits that you just can’t quantify
The pure status of hosting the event can’t be underestimated. But does that basically mean something? London is already considered one of, if not the most prestigious capital in the world. We have the Queen, the Tower of London, the BBC, the Thames River, Buckingham Palace, The O2, St Pauls and the list goes on, and on, and on. Do we actually need extra publicity? And what of the other advantages – people will start taking part in more sport, children will join clubs, there will likely be a brand new feeling of health and welfare! Without the funding in proper ground level facilities for such enterprise, this just has not happened. All the cash has been spent on the Olympics.
So what are the actual benefits of the Olympics? Here’s one, a free holiday. In case you are looking for something to do next summer time, why not just give the games a wide berth and hire out your house for the Olympics? There’s all types of places that you can go to (remember that you’ll be flying ‘the opposite way’ and renting your house out will pay for it.
We looked at a few web-sites which are making {house renting for olympics service available and it’s now a reality that you would be able to get top rates for your house. Think about doubling, or even tripling your monthly mortgage interest payments as an idea of what to charge per week, and don’t worry about damage and deposits, you can have money held aside in an escrow account, by the renter to cover any breakages or accidental damage.
Many local councils don’t like the idea of residents doing this however they’re unlikely to impose fines because it’s only a two week let. Just be sure that your insurer knows what’s going on and that your policy will cover any eventualities of renting out.
The people behind the London Olympic bid claimed that hosting the games would bring prosperity to Londoners, there are not many people who ever really believed that but maybe for home owners there may be still a possibility to benefit from the games by renting out their home.