UK’s Olympic win could leave London tourism a major loser

The official agency behind promoting tourism for London has admitted that the 2012 Olympic Games could lead to a lull in visitors to the capital next year, which may have a damaging impact on the UK’s stuttering economic recovery.

London & Partners has acknowledged there “could be a problem” with people not wanting to come to London over fears, such as over-crowded transport, a lack of, or high prices for, hotel rooms, and the capital resembling a building site, from 1 January until the Olympics end on 27 August.

More on the Independent

London Olympics on Spectacle’s website

Spectacle homepage

Spectacle Presentation at the London Festival of Architecture

Films from Spectacle’s Olympic project collection are being screened as part of the London Festival of Architecture. Interviews with Lance Forman on the Forman’s fish smoking factory and footage of the now destroyed Manor Gardens Allotments are playing as part of a temporary three-week museum about Stratford and in particular the past, present and future of the Olympic site.

The event, a collaboration between the London School of Economics Cities Programme and the Architecture Foundation, will showcase artefacts from prominent organisations and artists mapping the history of the area and will be situated in a lobby space over the Stratford Shopping Centre. Spectacle’s material will be shown not only in this capacity but also as a reference to the construction and demolition work taking place for the creation of the World Cup 2012 infrastructure, which you can read more about here at the Spectacle Blog.

The festival is already underway, and the museum opens this Saturday, 26th June.