London 2012 Olympics Tickets and Tours: Organisers Say London 2012 'Not Austerity Olympics'

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UK Culture Minister Jeremy Hunt
promises London 2012 won't be
"austerity" games.

As Spyns dilligently prepares for its 2012 London Olympics tours, many fear recent budget cuts in the UK will have an adverse effect on the games. Britain's culture secretary has rejected claims that the London 2012 Games should be an "austerity" Olympics. Jeremy Hunt told the Daily Telegraph that rather than cutting its budget, the economic downturn meant the event's opportunities must be "harnessed". Mr Hunt said voters would not forgive the government if it failed to make the most of the Games.


The government has provided £9.3bn for the Games - up from an estimate of £2.4bn at the time of the bid in 2005. Mr Hunt said: "You can take two attitudes to the Olympics. You can say: these are times of austerity and therefore we should pare them down as much as possible. Or, you can say: because these are times of austerity we need to do everything we possibly can to harness the opportunity of the Olympics."


The minister said hosting the Olympics would have a "massively positive impact" on economic confidence. "We're going to be the centre of global attention and it will be the first time that we've had a major sporting event that's watched live by half the world's population. People would not forgive us if we didn't make the absolute most of this moment. This is going to be an incredible expression of Britain's culture, Britain's history and Britain's creativity. So, we decided that the sensible thing to do is to make sure that we finance it properly."


The government recently more than doubled the budget for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies - from £40m to £81m - after Prime Minister David Cameron saw the plans. The extra money came from within the £9.3bn Olympic public funding package. The venue security allocation has also risen by £271m to £553m after the estimated number of security guards required more than doubled from 10,000 to 23,700.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.

London 2012 Olympics Tickets and Tours: London Theatres May Suffer Because of Olympics

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London theatres aren't looking forward
to the 2012 summer games.

As Spyns diligently prepares for its London 2012 Olympics tours, not everyone is expecting a bumper tourist season next summer. The Olympics will cause "a bloodbath of a summer" for London theatres in 2012, Andrew Lloyd Webber has predicted. "Nobody's going to go to the theatre at all," the composer told Radio 4's Today programme, predicting that "most of the theatres in London will shut. It's going to be very tough," he said, revealing advance bookings were "about 10%" of their normal level.

Three major musicals, he added, "are not going to play over the Olympics" - but he would not name them. Lord Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group owns seven London theatres which are currently hosting shows including War Horse, Matilda and The Wizard of Oz. The impresario said "big, big, big hits" like his own The Phantom of the Opera would continue during the Olympics period. But he said some of his other theatres "will have to" close because of a drop-off in the "ordinary West End tourist audience". On a brighter note, the 63-year-old said a host of new musicals would arrive in the West End after the conclusion of the 2012 games.

Shows heading into London include a Spice Girls musical, a Bridget Jones stage show and the Tony award-winning The Book of Mormon. "They've never been so commercially popular," he told BBC arts correspondent Rebecca Jones. "The appetite for musicals is insatiable in a way.
I don't think I've ever had so many musicals being offered to our theatres in London as there are for the end of next year."

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.

London 2012 Olympics Tickets Tours and Hotels: When to book your London 2012 tour?

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"Got any rooms?" London 2012 is
turning out to be a tourist's nightmare.

I doubt there was this much conflict under the communist Chinese for Beijing 2008! If ever there were an example of excessive litigation, look no further than the London 2012 Olympics.

According to a recent report from Europe, advance-booking demand for hotels during the LondonOlympic Games is down by 80%, but hotels are still keeping rooms off the market. That report raises the classic dilemma of would-be Olympic Games visitors to the London Games next summer, July 27-August 12, and it leaves at least one reader in a quandary: If I want to take in the Games, should I buy now or wait for a bargain price?


As my colleague Christine Sarkis recently blogged, the ticket sale process has started through CoSport, the official reseller for Games tickets to residents of the U.S., Canada, Australia, and a bunch of European countries. The "ticket request phase" runs through April 22, and "hospitality package sales" started on March 15. So far, CoSport isn't showing any prices, but it is accepting registrations and requests. The official London-based Olympic ticket website specifically states that it will not sell to foreign visitors. However, if you have some friends in the U.K., you might have them inquire about buying tickets for you there.


In some prior Olympic Games, host-country and regional demand for tickets has fallen far short of expectations and national allocations. In those cases, local authorized sellers have released ticket inventory to foreign agencies and tour operators basically, to any outfit willing to buy them. In other years, Games admission has become the "hottest ticket in town." Whether U.K. demand will exceed or fail to meet expectations is anyone's guess. In any case, various U.S. ticket resellers, such as TicketCity are also taking requests for tickets, which may come either through CoSports or from initial allocations that originally went to other countries.


As always, as opening day approaches, you'll see a secondary market in event tickets: Will they go at scalper prices or distressed levels? That's the big question, with no answer yet in sight.Tour operators of all stripes are organizing Olympic packages, some through CoSports, some through sports tour specialists, some through mainline tour operators. So far, the only hard prices I've seen were from Roadtrips, which lists a four-night package starting at a mind-boggling $3,695 per person, excluding airfare and event tickets. I suspect that, at least early on, other package prices will also be very high.


As noted, London and nearby hotels are holding most of their room inventory out for Olympic packagers and direct sales. So far, none of the big hotel chain or online agency sites is even quoting prices more than a year in advance, so I can't give any examples. But you'll be able to check prices starting this July. Typically, host countries always anticipate a great shortage of accommodations during the Games, and they try to line up accommodations in student dormitories, private houses, and other places that don't usually cater to short-term visitors. London is doing this, as well, and you can look for special websites set up for accommodations searches.


If anyone believes airfares can be forecasted accurately more than a year in advance, I have some great bridges I'd sell him or her. Overall, the long-term trend in airfares is upward, as the world's major airlines do a better job of matching seats to demand than they've done in the past. And, at least so far, no transatlantic low-fare lines have emerged to challenge the quasi-monopoly of the giant lines from North America to London. Airlines don't post fares this far in advance, so you can't tell anything yet. And the onerous British "air-passenger duty" will continue to make London an unusually expensive ticket.

But the 800-pound gorilla in the airfare room is the price of oil. If oil remains at current levels, you can expect higher airfares in 2012, but an easing of oil prices will certainly ease airfare pressures.


London has spent a lot of time and money in beefing up transport services in and around the primary Olympic site on London's East Side. Expansions and improvements include the Docklands Light Railway to Stratford International, upgraded rail stops at Stratford and adjacent Stratford International to accommodate both conventional and high-speed trains, and expanded underground stations and platforms. Special high-speed trains will make the trip from St Pancras Station to Stratford International in seven minutes. Although the Olympic Park will host a majority of events, others will occur as far away as Greenwich to the east, and Wembley and Wimbledon to the west. As far as I can tell, all venues enjoy good public transport. Apparently, British ticket buyers will automatically receive a " Games Travel Card" providing for transport between the primary Game venues and all nine London transport zones. Presumably, foreign visitors will be able to buy similar cards.


At this point, I can provide only a few general suggestions for prospective visitors:

•If you prefer to lock in your experience, buy in early register for Games tickets, accommodations, or packages immediately and be prepared to pay top dollar.


•If you're willing to gamble, you may find some "sale" prices on tickets, accommodations, and packages as opening day approaches. But waiting runs the risk of paying top dollar. Don't adopt a waiting strategy unless you're willing to miss out entirely on the Games.


•No matter what, if you don't want to get involved with the Olympics, stay clear of London entirely. Visiting during that time and probably several weeks or so before and after is an open invitation for a royal fleecing.


Get fleeced or risk not going not an attractive choice. But nobody said life was fair.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.

London 2012 Olympics Tickets Tours Hotels: Money Fight Between London 2012 Organisers and British Olympic Association

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Going Rogge. IOC President
has sided with London 2012
in a dispute with the BOA.

As Spyns diligently prepares to launch our London 2012 tours page, we are constantly reminded the modern games are about money. The British Olympic Association and London 2012 organisers are up to their ascots in a dispute about who gets excess cash (if any) from the London 2012 games. The BOA today suffered a blow in their cash dispute with London 2012 organisers after the International Olympic Committee ruled against them. The IOC say their ruling should be final and binding but it may not mean the end of the row - the BOA had previously lodged a submission with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne. Raise your hand if you've never heard of the CAS. Thought not.


Of course the issue surrounds any money left over after the London 2012 Games - the BOA are due to get a cut but claim the running costs of the Paralympics should not be taken into account when calculating the surplus. Clever because the Paralympics are a notorious money-loser. London 2012 have disputed this and now the IOC have ruled against the BOA, with IOC president Jacques Rogge signing the decision. An IOC spokesman said: "The IOC was asked to reach a final and binding decision on how the surplus of the Games should be defined. Having studied the documents and the past recent history of the Games bidding process we have decided that the word 'surplus' clearly represents the financial results from the staging of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games combined. The IOC would like to see a swift resolution to this dispute - to allow all parties to concentrate on delivering what will be outstanding Games in London next year."


London 2012 organisers welcomed the IOC's finding and claimed the issues now settled. A spokeswoman said: "We are pleased that the IOC has ruled on this technical point confirming we should continue to determine any surplus on the basis of combined costs and revenues from both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. "Now this is settled we look forward to moving ahead together with the BOA to realise our shared vision of hosting a spectacular Olympic and Paralympic Games." London 2012 stressed the dispute would not affect the staging of the Games next year nor the preparations of the British athletes.


If the BOA proceed with their claim to CAS that the word 'Games' in the host city contract refers to Olympics and not Paralympics, the IOC's ruling means they will be directly challenging a written decision from Rogge.  In biblical terms, this would be a bit like challenging the big man regarding the validity of one of the ten commandments. That could have repercussions in terms of longer-term relationships between BOA leaders and the IOC. Damn straight!

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.

London 2012 Olympics Tickets Hotels and Tours: Broken Clocks and Bungled Tickets

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The countdown clock in
Trafalgar Square.

While everyone is up to their ascots in Britain about the broken London 2012 countdown clock and problems with summer games tickets, I have a more positive story. London Olympics' organisers now give tours of the Olympic Village but the tickets are very hard to come by. In fact, I was on a waiting list for a spot in early April and never thought I'd get "the call". But call me they did. The woman on on the phone was both friendly and organised. This is rather unremarkable but when you think they called me on March 15 when London 2012 tickets starting going on sale, it's rather remarkable. So London 2012 organisers get a thumbs up from Spyns.


But my call back aside, things took a decidedly negative turn this week for the London 2012 gang. London 2012 organisers were left red-faced over two embarrassing incidents as they marked 500 days until the Olympics. Official timekeeper Omega confirmed the countdown clock stopped working only a day after it was unveiled in a grand ceremony in Trafalgar Square. And London 2012 chiefs claimed there was 'no glitch' with the ticketing website despite some fans being unable to finish their orders due to an error with card payments.


The clock was the centrepiece of celebrations to mark 500 days to go to the 2012 Games, which it counts down in days, hours, minutes and seconds. Monday's launch was attended by organising committee chairman Lord Coe, Mayor of London Boris Johnson and heptathlon world champion Jessica Ennis among others and today's technical problem is a major embarrassment for Omega. A statement from the company read: 'We are obviously very disappointed that the clock has suffered this technical issue. 'The Omega London 2012 countdown clock was developed by our experts and fully tested ahead of the launch in Trafalgar Square. We are currently looking into why this happened and expect to have the clock functioning as normal as soon as possible.' The clock, which is 6.5 metres high, five metres long and weighs around four tonnes, took 10 people two days to assemble.


Meanwhile, sports fans with Visa cards which expire before the end of August found the official website, which went live at midnight on Monday, could not process their orders. London 2012 said that the website and ticketing guide clearly states that in order to process your application, Visa cards must expire no earlier than August 2011. This is because while people are applying now for tickets, they will be paying for them between May 10 and June 10 and will need their card to be valid during this period.


I believe we should cut Olympic organisers a bit of slack. Selling 6 million London 2012 tickets, building an entire Olympic village (from scratch), and doing the many other things required to put together the games is enough pressure without everyone whingeing about a clock. But it is a shame the clock stopped on its first day of operations. Big Ben has always kept perfect time. Shame on you Omega.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.

London 2012 Olympics Tickets Tours and Hotels: Whew! UK Basketball Team Given Green Light to Compete in Olympics

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Great Britain will compete in
London 2012 basketball

In one of the most important "whew!" brow-wiping, almost a catastrophe moments in Olympic history, Great Britain have been granted automatic qualification to play basketball at the 2012 Olympics. The announcement was made at world governing body FIBA's central board meeting in Lyon, bringing a successful conclusion to a long campaign from British Basketball. Board members voted 17-3 in favour of allowing Britain to play, but attached a condition that the sport's governing structure in Britain be resolved by June 30, 2012. This is a bit like the government's bailout of Norther Rock - we'll say yes now but you'll really have to clean up...er at a later date.


"I congratulate you," FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann said in announcing the decision. "You will be playing at the Olympic Games and we will be very happy to have you there." FIBA had asked to see evidence that Britain could put a competitive team on the court and that the Games would leave a legacy for basketball in the country. While it was quickly accepted that Britain had met all performance criteria, Baumann revealed there was a long discussion by board members on the question of the governing structure, which currently sees British Basketball operating as an umbrella organisation over the three home nations, England, Scotland and Wales, who retain their votes on FIBA's board.


FIBA want to put an end to that situation going forward, and as part of the agreement to allow Britain to play next year, they will require home nations to either merge completely or disband the British team following the Games. As London 2012 tickets go on sale next week, olympic basketball tickets will very likely be a big seller at the London summer games. Spyns will be offering London 2012 basketball tickets and many others as part of its London Summer Games packages.   

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.

London 2012 Olympics Tickets Tours Hotels: What Londoners Think of Their Games

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"That fare will be 1 billion pounds
for the Olympic Games please."

As Spyns diligently prepares for its London 2012 Summer games tours, I wanted to take a moment and reflect on what the locals think about the London 2012 Summer games. Before that, however, I just wanted to use the term London 2012 Summer games one more time! Let's get started.



While I've written a lot about the London Olympics and the endless construction surrounding the same, today I'd like to blog about what locals think about the Olympics. During a recent swing through London I was lucky enough to ask Londoners what they thought about next year's games. While people who live in large cities like London can be jaded, I was surprised by the results.


Not surprisingly, the very first person I spoke to about the London 2012 Olympics was a taxi driver. Born and raised in London, he was enthusiastic about the prestige the games would bring to his city but lamented what 500,000 to 1,000,000 tourists would do to its creaky transportation system. He also thought the resulting traffic would be nightmarish. This appeared to be a common theme in my discussions with London natives. While most were thrilled about winning the games, almost everyone acknowledged it would be impossible getting around downtown London with so many tourists.


For anyone who has experienced London's subway, affectionately referred to as “the tube”, you might agree with me that the only thing keeping the system running properly is Londoners' famous good manners. Above ground, the City of London maintains an almost medieval network of narrow roads and streets. The road system gets overloaded even in normal traffic conditions let alone when so many tourists are flooding the streets during the 2012 Summer games. Underground, things won't improve much. The tube is a complex system of overlapping lines second only in complexity to the human nervous system. Although not the fault of those who manage such a complex subway system, it tends to break down A LOT. I also think that when the British were awarded the games, the International Olympic Committe glossed over issues such as London's infrastructure (one need only look to Rio winning the games as an example of the IOC turning a blind eye). For example, the Olympic Village will be located in London's East End and unfortunately there is only one subway line that goes there. I find it difficult to believe that this line will not become overloaded during the Olympics. And I am not the only one with this concern.


I do not plan to go through an inventory of people that I spoke to during my last swing through London, but here is a quick list: a bagpiper on Westminster Bridge; a French engineering student living in London for the year; an Australian expat working for the British government; a Polish waitress serving breakfast at my hotel (grrrrrr) ; a British student studying architecture; and many others. The common theme among all these people seem to be the cost. While the games were awarded at a time when it appeared Londonwas booming, since 2008 the economy has more or less been in recession and David Cameron's conservative government is cutting back. While the governments has not reduced the budget for the Summer Olympics games, austerity is in the air.


Not surprisingly, almost everyone who worked in the hotel industry seemed thrilled that the games were coming to London in the summer of 2012. Obviously these are the people best positioned to profit from a flood of tourists. However, in the list of people that I provided above it seemed that those not associated with tourism or least likely to profit from the games were most hostile. The French student for example, was upset the British government had recently decided to increase university tuition. If you have been following the news recently there were violent clashes a few months ago between student protesters and riot police in central London over the issue of increased tuition. It does seem strange that students and their families will have to pay more for university education when the government is building stadiums with taxpayer dollars. I can only imagine how it feels to have your welfare benefits slashed when again the government is building an entire Olympic Village. The incongruity is striking and not lost on the natives.


So through my very unscientific poll the results were as follows: 60% for the games, 30% against, 10% indifferent. My feeling was that while the majority of people living in London were mildly supportive of the games, a strong minority of people felt, "Why now in this economy?" I believe the games have reached a size whereby only the wealthiest countries on Earth can afford them. Unfortunately, whether the British accept this or not the United Kingdom is in a period of transition from economic superpower to perhaps something of a lesser economic power. This is similar to the situation the country went through in the 1970s. Rampant inflation, crushing debts, and high unemployment are not the best conditions for hosting the games. And the citizens are restless. Compounding the problem is the fact that the Chinese spent tens of billions of dollars on the Beijing games - financial means that the British no longer have that their disposal.

In closing, the British support their Summer games but question whether the country can afford it in a period of intense economic uncertainty. I hope you have enjoyed my somewhat rambling post. If you have any questions about Spyns London 2012 Summer games tours or would like information about London 2012 tickets or hotels, please do not hesitate to contact us toll-free at 1-888-825-4720.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.