Paris Beats London in the Hotel Olympiad

London hoteliers remain confident that the decline in tourism after the recent terrorist attacks is short term. But industry sources say that it could be a long ride. In the meantime tourists are seeking other destinations, notably Paris and Barcelona.

(PRWEB) August 12, 2005 -- London's short term jubilation over successfully beating Paris to hold the 2012 Olympics has taken a knock. Two lots of terrorist attacks later and Europeans and Americans are choosing Paris this year in favor over London.

According to Sophie Kirkham in the Guardian ('London feels the chill as takings fall' Saturday July 30, 2005) hotel bookings for the pre-Christmas season are already down 25%. And London has already seen a significant dip in bookings for the bank holiday in August.

There is some speculation within the industry that leisure visitors to the capital are simply postponing their trips until later this year. James Chappell, CEO of The Bench which provides hotel operating data, has stressed that London hoteliers shouldn't make any drastic changes because the underlying trend for reservations in the city remains good.

But this optimism is not shared by all operators. Dorian Harris, director of Skoosh International (http://www.skoosh.com), an online specialist in European hotels, reports that on a recent upsurge of user reviews which commented about the unsafe nature of London's transport system. 'Typically we would have expected an increase in bookings for London to time with the great news about the Olympics', Harris comments, 'but the hotel reviews we've been getting back from recent guests advising against using transport in London are clearly deterring other travelers from making plans to visit the capital'. Ironically, it appears that a lot of the diverted traffic is going to Paris the city believed to be London's biggest rival in the recent Olympic bid.

'In our experience', Harris comments, 'you can't make up for lost sales. It's a myth that customers will delay their trips. We would expect the Spanish to be over here in big numbers over August during their extended holidays and they simply aren't here'. Although he doesn't predict any long term problems for the UK hotel industry he accepts that Paris is a short term beneficiary of the downturn in London's hospitality business.

The effect of a terrorist attack on a city's travel business was plain in both Madrid and New York. Indeed, the Big Apple is only now achieving the same level of travelers it had before the 9/11 attack. It seems that London's tourist operators will have to work hard to keep its traveler levels high and the Olympics still seem a long way off.

For more information contact Dorian Harris at Skoosh - http://www.skoosh.com

Contact:
Dorian Harris
01494 783455
dorian@skoosh.com

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