London 2012 Olympics Tickets Hotels and Tours: Beware of the Fake Ticket Websites

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London 2012 Tickets: demand will far
outstrip supply.

Spyns will be offering tickets as part of its London 2012 tours however, unlike most of the planet which is offering them now, we will take reservations for hotels and non-Olympic activities (like walking tours of London for example) with tickets added to our tours after purchased via a licensed re-seller. Some have gotten a bit more creative according to London police.

Taking advantage of overwhelming demand for London 2012 tickets, illegal websites purporting to be "licensed ticket re-sellers" are cropping up on the internet. A battle is brewing in cyberspace. During my recent swing through London a few weeks ago, London 2012 organisers seemed to be in "what the f*ck are we doing mode" as the drop dead March 15 ticket sale date looms large on the calendar. In several meetings, I heard that tour operators like us could purchase tickets, then we couldn't, then we had to provide individual client's names, then we didn't, then we had to register for the ballot, then we didn't.

A few things are certain:

• Millions of tickets will go on sale in the spring
• The ticketing system is clearly a work in progress
• Like every previous Olympic Games, tickets will be bought and sold
• 50% of the tickets will go to Olympic insiders or VIPs (20% will surely be fartcatchers for IOC president Jacques Rogge) 
• Like every previous Olympic Games, organisers will pretend that there won't be a black market
• Scalpers will eventually acquire and re-sell tickets

In an interesting twist, fake websites purporting to sell London 2012 tickets are being targeted by a specialist police unit. Operation Podium has been set up to combat fraud and organised crime around the Olympic Games. The team is running 16 current operations and made 37 arrests in the past six months. Detective Chief Inspector Nick Downing said his top priority was to combat ticket fraud, especially bogus websites.

He said: "Someone may travel from a distant part of the UK, coming to London thinking that they have tickets for the 100m final for which they have paid thousands of pounds, only to find they have no accommodation, no ticket and no experience of a lifetime. "I don't want London to be associated with that."


Police will be on the lookout for fraudulent and touting websites when the 6.6 million tickets available to the public for the Olympic and Paralympic Games go on sale on 15 March this year. Mr Downing said officers had learned lessons by monitoring the chaos around the release of Take That tickets last October. Prior to the band's tickets going on sale, five or six unlicensed websites were operating, he said, but this jumped to "hundreds" the day the tickets were released. The situation was exacerbated by authorised sellers' sites crashing, leaving desperate fans more vulnerable to handing over their card details to touts and fraudsters.

London 2012 organisers hope to avoid a similar buying frenzy by making the application process open for six weeks, after which the tickets will be allocated by ballot. Police are working with the organising committee to develop a legitimate way for people to resell and swap tickets without resorting to touts. Unlike other sporting events and concerts, unlicensed reselling of Olympic tickets is illegal under Section 31 of the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006, meaning officers can arrest touts. However, Mr Downing said the 36-strong Operation Podium team was already compiling a list of known ticket touts across the UK and would use a range of legal tools including ASBOs and seizing assets to "create a hostile environment" in which they would not wish to operate.


Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, the National Olympic Security Co-ordinator, said there were no guarantees that London 2012 would be a tout-free zone but "we will put the fear on them using every possible legislation that we can". This reminds me of comedian Robin Williams take on the London Police who at the time didn't carry sidearms. "Stop!" said Williams imitating a police constable, "Or I'll say 'Stop' again!"

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: David Beckham Olympic Gold for London Organising Committee

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Bond, James Bond

Ain't it strange to be over the hill at 37? As Spyns London 2012 tour clients look at flights and purchase flags for their Summer Olympic Games packages, an older, wiser David Beckham (37) looks longingly at Blighty's shores. Apparently, the world's most famous footballer could star at the London 2012 Olympics by playing or coaching the Great Britain football team. According to organising committee chairman Sebastian Coe, Beckham's is at the top of the list. Although football is played as an Under-23 (yikes) tournamenent at the Olympics, the rules allow for three over-age players and Coe believes Beckham or players like Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard should feature because their global profile would attract more interest in the event.

Coe told BBC Radio Five: "We are not going to have a big international football tournament on domestic soil for some time so we want to use it to inspire a generation of young players. "It is an under-23 tournament but you are allowed to play three over-age players and just picking out names that could be Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard towards the end of their career or David Beckham -- or even David Beckham as a coach, though I have gone way beyond my brief saying that!" Coe has previously spoken to Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson about whether he would be interested in coaching the side.

The English Football Association will likely have the final decision on who manages and plays for Britain, but Coe hopes stars like Ferguson and Beckham will be involved. He added: "It is not for me to decide, it is for the FA and the British Olympic Association."

Beckham's wife Victoria (aka "Posh Spice") has apparently refused a reunion with the Spice Girls for the London 2012 Olympics - despite interest from the four other seasonings for a one-off catch-up. But according to a source close to the Beckhams, ‘she's not a spoilsport but she doesn't feel she's a good enough performer to go back there again all these years on'. Oh well. Provided Heather Small is under lock and key on a remote island north of Scotland and no-one is telling me to search for the hero inside myself then a Spice-less Olympics will be more than palatable.

Spyns female clients will certainly be swooning with anticipation.

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 Summer Olympic Games Tickets Tours Hotels: Vancouver 2010 to London 2012 "Get Ready!"

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With less than 20 months to go before the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games begin, the time left for businesses to prepare for the onslaught of visitors not just to London, but to Britain as a whole, is rapidly running out. Spyns team is working round the clock to prepare its 2012 London Summer Olympics package tours.


A survey released today shows firms in Vancouver - the city that hosted The Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games - allowed themselves an average of 18 months to get everything they thought they would need - from extra network capacity to new working practices - in place. Twenty per cent started preparing three years in advance. Even so, 49 per cent of those contacted said their organisations had failed to take full advantage of the opportunities on offer.


Conducted for BT by Vanson Bourne, the survey also highlighted the benefits of being well-prepared and the consequences of inadequate planning. Two thirds of respondents said their organisations had benefited from the Games. A quarter reported improvements in sales of between ten and 25 per cent during the Games themselves - a further six per cent even more. And while demand obviously fell once the event was over, 29 per cent of those surveyed said their firms were continuing to enjoy higher demand for products and services. Forty three per cent attributed this to an increase in business from overseas.


In all, 61 per cent of respondents reported lasting benefits resulting from investments made in the run up to the Games. Twenty six per cent said their organisations were more efficient, 19 per cent were still benefiting from flexible working arrangements introduced to help staff avoid congestion caused by the influx of visitors while 20 per cent reporting enduring performance improvements resulting from upgrades to networks and IT systems.


Emer Timmons, President BT Global Services UK, said: "This is excellent news, but the results of the survey make it clear that the benefits many firms gained could have been even greater. Thirty eight per cent of those contacted felt their organisations should have equipped themselves better in advance. "The survey's findings have big implications for UK plc as well as for individual firms. The next few years are going to be tough for us all. London 2012 shines out as an opportunity for British businesses to demonstrate the quality of their products and services, show the world what they can do and win the new business UK plc needs. It would be tragic if the opportunity were to be missed." The survey highlighted the particular importance of having sufficient infrastructure in place. Twenty three per cent of organisations experienced shortages of network capacity during Vancouver 2010 as a result of surges in demand from employees and/or customers. Sixteen per cent wished their firms had increased the capacity of their contact centres in the run up to the Games, and 30 per cent said their firms should have done more to improve the flexible working facilities available to staff.


"The lessons from Vancouver are clear," added Timmons. "To gain from the opportunities London 2012 will create, businesses need to prepare well in advance. The benefits will persist long after the Games are over, so executives should take a long-term view of any investments they are asked to make. But time is running out. The longer firms delay before taking steps to get ready for the Games, the greater the chance they'll miss out."

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: 2 Million Register for Summer Olympics Tickets

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As Spyns clients gear up for the London 2012 summer games, our London package clients can rest assured there will be plenty of tickets going around. Two million people have signed up for tickets for the London 2012 Olympics, chief executive Paul Deighton said on Christmas Day. Organisers are steeling themselves for the "mind-boggling" task of masterminding the ticket sales, as well as planning and managing seats for the 8.8 million tickets, which are vital to raising £2 billion from the private sector to stage the Games. The London 2012 organisation needs to get 25% of its revenue from ticket sales. London 2012 tour operators like Spyns will purchase tickets through the regular channels and then via re-sales of tickets through British consolidators.

The 6.6 million tickets for the public go on sale in March and, according to Deighton: "The sheer scale of this is mind-blowing. Just the operational stuff is mind-blowing." The real pressure will come when the application system goes live in what London 2012 chairman Lord Coe has described as the "daddy of all ticketing strategies". Mr Deighton said: "One of the key things for us in March is to make sure that things go smoothly. Making sure that everyone understands there is no advantage in submitting applications on the day.

"With two million people (on the database now), and probably nearer 2.5 million by March, it is also about making sure they are transferred into the ticketing system. "It is a year of extraordinary demands in getting ready for the Games and in terms of operational delivery. "Don't forget most of our venues are not yet built. Work is being done on how many games of volleyball are in one session, how many television channels there will be and where are the televisions going to go. And all this is given that we still have to get our licences.

"The showjumping venue in Greenwich and the beach volleyball venue in Horse Guards is just a diagram on a page at the moment and we are figuring out if it is A4 or A3. We have to figure out how many seats there are. e (London 2012) have been around for five years now and this process (ticket sales) is really an important part of a project."

London 2012 Olympics Tickets Tours & Hotels: Bond-Like Atmosphere at the London Summer Games

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As Spyns clients gear up for our 2012 London Olympic Games tours, the UK is attempting to balance severe budget cuts with escalating security costs for the summer olympics. Intelligence officers from MI5 and possibly M16 too are working on secondment on the London 2012 Olympic Games project, contributing to security and anti-terrorist initiatives. Sources say some are ‘embedded’ within the Olympic Park in London, working undercover, and more detail can be found in today’s ‘Inside Sport’ column in the Mail on Sunday. Every brickie and bag searcher may not be who they seem.

Recommend supplementary reading can be found at the Home Office website, here for an official safety and security assessment PDF download, and here for a speech from the effective boss of MI5 Jonathan Evans. The Inside Sport column mentions that 150 of 500 guards on the Olympic Park site are Gurkhas. They work for the security firm G4S, the largest employer of Gurkhas in the world, and providers of security to events including Wimbledon. Other security measures in place at the Olympic Park, beyond Gurkhas, spooks and a 17km electric fence are:

• Hand scanners providing biometric access control, alongside photographic smart cards, for up to 5000 workers an hour at peak.
• Iris scanning and access is also available as an alternative system where required.
• On site searching and screening at entry and exit points as well as off site searching and screening of vehicle deliveries.
• Coordinated CCTV and supporting perimeter security systems.
• A dedicated police team at the Olympic Park which is liaising with on-site staff and contractors as well as the local communities.

In a post-9/11 world, security has become one of the major concerns of Olympic organisers. The costs are staggering. For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, security was nothing short of overwhelming. A 100,000-strong security force of armed police, commandos and other troops were stationed around the city. The authorities installed 300,000 surveillance cameras and sited anti-aircraft missiles next to the olympic stadium (called the "Bird's Nest"). ID checks were everywhere. People who gave police detailed evidence of a "major security threat" to the Beijing Olympics were offered rewards of between 10,000 and 500,000 yuan (five times the usual maximum amount).

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.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.