Olympic spirit survives blasts

by Tony Halstead

The trade is still hailing the 2012 London Olympics as a great opportunity to showcase British pubs, despite the harrowing events of the past week.

British Beer & Pub Association director of communications Mark Hastings expected 'considerable benefit for the pub trade, with an estimated two million extra visitors in London.

'It's great news for London and great news for the country because in the long term everyone is going to benefit, he said.

'The huge investment on the Games and the thousands of extra visitors they will bring into the UK are set to provide a major spin-off for the pub industry.

'It's a fantastic opportunity to show off great British pubs and great British beer.

Although London itself will accrue the lion's share of the benefits, the Olympics 'effect will spread out of the capital.

Industry analyst Geof Collyer of Deutsche Bank said Stratford in east London would benefit through building work on the Olympic sites.

'Clearly the Games themselves will bring a huge boost in tourist numbers and spending in the leisure and hospitality sector, said Collyer.

Stratford will also benefit in the long term when the Olympic Village is converted into housing with sporting facilities on its doorstep. And regeneration of the area could bring a boom in pub property prices.

Colin Wellstead, head of the pubs division of licensed property surveyor Christie & Co, expects pubs around Stratford to increase in value thanks to extra trade from construction workers.

But he warned: 'There will not be hordes of people becoming millionaires on the back of all this. A few people will make a lot of money but it's not going to be a huge jamboree as far as property prices are concerned.

Chairman of the Westminster Licensees Association, Alex Salussolia, said the Games presented 'a wonderful opportunity to show off the trade in its best light.

'It's not just London, however, because other areas will also benefit, so the financial spin-off the Games will bring is very substantial.

In addition, pubs in Weymouth will reap the benefits of an extra 10,000 to 15,000 people expected to descend on the resort to watch Olympic sailing.

Pete Smith, owner of the Park Hotel in Weymouth, said some hotels in the resort had already received extra bookings.