London 2012 Olympics Tickets Hotels and Tours: London Organisers to Triathletes: "Go Jump in a Lake!"

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Look! The crown jewels.

As the interminable battle rages over the London 2012 stadium ("Legacy!!!!" screams Lord Coe), Spyns is dilligently preparing for its London 2012 package tours. Before unveiling a number of surprises, this just in from London!

The swimming leg of the Olympic triathlon at the 2012 London Games will take place in Hyde Park's Serpentine lake after local government officials gave permission for the construction of spectator seating and a pontoon. The triathlon will begin with a 1.5-kilometer (0.9-mile) lap starting from the pontoon on the north side of the Serpentine.

The seating area will hold 3,000 spectators, with the temporary structures set to be installed two months before the August opening of the games. The Serpentine will also host the 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) marathon swimming event. Spectators without tickets will be able to watch both events from vantage points in the park.Westminster Council planning and city development chairman Alastair Moss says "Hyde Park will be a first-class backdrop."

I personally have no desire to complete a triathlon. In fact, the word triathlon makes me want to open a beer. I can't imagine the pain and endurance it must take to finish one although I applaud those who do. Actually I don't mean that at all. You're all mad and look like Holocaust survivors!

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: Spyns to London 2012: "Lighten the Hell Up!"

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"Ambush Marketer" in Dutch is
"hinderlaag bemarker".
Aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!

As the fiscal belt tightening continues in Great Britain, London 2012 organisers are cranking up the rhetoric to protect summer games sponsors and a much-needed revenue stream. While everyone wants the games, few want to pay for them so expect sponsorship to play a very big part of the London 2012 extravaganza.


The organisers of the London Olympics have warned drinks firms against trying to ambush the Games with unofficial brands as happened at the last World Cup. The Bavaria 'ambush' made headlines around the world - just as intended. London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton issued the warning as he unveiled Heineken UK as the official supplier of lager. He said his team has a "very, very active anti-ambush" unit which will not tolerate the sort of marketing stunts witnessed in South Africa. Why a Dutch beer is the official drinks sponsor of the London Olympics makes perfect sense.


The most notorious involved 36 young women wearing orange mini-dresses advertising the Dutch brewer Bavaria. TV cameras picked them out in the stands at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg during the Netherlands v Denmark match.The women were ejected from the ground and arrested. They also faced threats of legal action. The World Cup ambushers apparently got their tickets from ITV pundit Robbie Earle.


"If someone tries to ambush, I would see it as an attack on one of the most important events in this country in a decade," said Mr Deighton. "Any brand that behaves like that would probably receive quite a negative reaction." He went on: "We are very alert to protecting our partners who, without their contribution, this kind of event cannot happen. We have got to strike the balance right to protecting those rights and on the other hand behaving in a way that is sensible when an ambush is attempted." We at Spyns suggest an even more severe punishment: forcing ambush marketers to watch all 5 seasons of Dutch "Big Brother". Now that's what we call a life sentence. For our many Dutch readers (tongue firmly in cheek) the Dutch translation of "ambush marketer" is "hinderlaag bemarker". Terrifying isn't it?


Under the terms of an iron-clad tier three sponsorship deal, Heineken UK will get exclusive pouring rights for its beers and ciders at all London 2012 venues where alcohol is served. Its brands include John Smiths, Bulmers and Strongbow. The Heineken deal takes London 2012 domestic sponsorship to £670m, leaving it £30m (US$50 million) short of its £700m (US$1.3 billion) target. It has been tasked with raising a total of £2bn from the private sector to help pay for the Games, which are costing around £9.3bn (tired of calculation but it's a very large 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.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: Summer Games to Volunteers: "We want you...er, no we don't."

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"We volunteered. Now where are
our bloody London 2012 tickets!"

As London 2012 organisers scramble to get Summer Olympics tickets figured out, some bold ticket-related initiatives are quietly being scrapped. Case in point: the volunteers in exchange for tickets plan. I'd love to be a fly on the wall of the London 2012 ticket committee. I can almost smell the sweat, Red Bull, and yes perhaps a whiff of urine as panick sets in. Tick tock boys and girls!

A scheme to use the Olympics to get people to volunteer in their local communities has been scrapped, the Culture Department has said. Following severe government cuts, the UK's culture department now consists of one Welsh man, a telephone, and a monkey named "Londoneye." The national 25th Hour campaign was launched at the Olympic Park last March by the then Olympics minister Tessa Jowell and London 2012 chairman Lord Coe. As a thank-you for giving up their time for community work, devoted volunteers were promised to be in line for one of the 2,012 pairs of tickets for the dress rehearsal for the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony. Alas the scheme has gone the way of the Dodo.

The 25th Hour campaign was based on the idea that everyone can find an extra hour or more to make a difference. The tickets were to have been among a range of Olympic-themed awards for "exceptional time givers". The new Government is now hoping that the Places People Play scheme will bolster grassroots projects and events. A Culture Department spokesman said: "After careful consideration, the Government has decided not to continue the 25th Hour Programme. "Instead, the focus going forward will be on getting more people involved in sport as volunteers and coaches, through the Places People Play initiative. The new Sports Leaders Scheme aims to recruit, train and deploy 40,000 new volunteers to help organise sports activities in their communities."

 The 25th Hour was separate to London 2012's volunteer programme which this week began interviews to recruit 70,000 people to help the Games run smoothly. We at Spyns London 2012 tours (shameless plug) wonder why the games rely so heavily on volunteers. You don't see anyone volunteering a building, loaning equipment for free, or providing construction services at cost now do you?

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: Swimming Ian Thorpe Making Comeback

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Ian Thorpe's Comeback:
Manage your expectations.

Spyns asks its London 2012 tour clients: Phelps or Thorpe? In what promises to be the new "Battle of Britain" five time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe is expected to announce his return to competitive swimming. Thorpe will bid to make the Australian team for next year’s London Summer Olympic Games, news reports said Tuesday. The 28-year-old, who retired in November 2006 but has been training hard in Sydney pools, will speak to the media Wednesday.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Thorpe, who would need to register with the ruling body FINA by the end of May to be eligible to compete at the London Olympic trials in March 2012, has told friends that he would be returning to competitive swimming. Thorpe left the sport when illness and injury put him out of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Thorpe, who has lost weight and looks in good shape, said last month that he was enjoying swimming again.

Swimming is among the top five most popular sports at any summer games. If Thorpe plans a comeback and Phelps continues to dominate, it will likely be one of the most coveted London 2012 tickets. Spyns will be offering trips that include the men's swimming finals so you might even catch the Thorpedo in action - provided he makes the Australian swimming team. “I never really stopped swimming, I’m just doing more of it now and I’m really enjoying getting into shape,” Thorpe said. Michael Bohl, Stephanie Rice’s coach, said last year that a Thorpe comeback would be a success. “He’s one of the best freestylers I’ve ever seen. He has an absolutely perfect stroke,” Bohl said. Thorpe’s best times in his chosen disciplines have all been eclipsed. Brazilian Cesar Cielo Filho holds the 100 metres freestyle in 46.91 seconds while Germany’s Paul Biedermann holds the 200m and 400m in 1 minute 42.00 seconds and 3:40.07 minutes, respectively.

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 Games Tickets Hotels Tours: UK Students to Participate in Games Design

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Cringe. The Vancouver 2012 Closing
Ceremonies. "Guys & Dolls"

As Spyns dilligently prepares for its London 2012 tours, most potential clients are focused on London 2012 tickets but we at Spyns would prefer to talk fashion. Why are Olympics costumes and mascots so unbelievably bad? Hopefully the Brits can get it right but they've decided to let students get involved and this can lead to some "creative designs." While watching some of the ceremonies in Beijing, I thought a lot of the women looked like crosses between Japanese manga characters and pre-WWII Shanghai streetwalkers. As a Canadian, I have to face up to the total train wreck that was the closing ceremony costumes during the Whistler Olympics (see photo).


Royal College of Art (RCA) post graduates will have a hand in the design of the podium, costumes, flower holders and trays which will carry the medals and flowers during the Olympics and Paralympics. Around 250 trays and 6,000 flower holders will be used in the ceremonies. The students will work with industry professionals through to the 770-plus ceremonies that will take place at 29 different venues.


London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton described it as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" for the post graduates, while RCA rector Dr Paul Thompson said it was "a great honour" to be involved. Mr Deighton said: "We look forward to seeing their proposals, then teaming them up with industry professionals to realise their designs which will be seen by a global audience at the greatest show on earth." Next, the high street fashion chain which is London 2012's official clothing and homeware supplier, will work with the RCA students on their designs to produce all the costumes for the ceremonies.


These include the costumes for the escorts who accompany the athletes and the medal presenters plus the medal and flower bearers. Professor Wendy Dagworthy, the RCA's head of the School of Fashion and Textiles, said: "To have their work viewed by millions of people is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and our fashion students are very excited to be involved with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games." Christos Angelides (clearly a Scotsman), Next's group product director, said: "We are excited to be working with the Royal College of Art to produce the victory ceremony costumes and look forward to helping to make the victory ceremony attendants look great."

We at Spyns hope the students don't come up with a beefeater slash Sailor Moon concoction for the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games. Mark your calendars as tickets go on sale March 15, 2011.

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: 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.

Lond 2012 Tickets Tours Hotels: Pubs Enjoy Later "Last Call" for London 2012

"Later pub closures,
later pub closures!"

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As Spyns prepares for its London 2012 Olympics tours, potential clients will see a nice benefit to London's Summer Games: more beer!

London's Olympics could be the catalyst for a three-month long party after it emerged that pubs, clubs and restaurants are set to be allowed extended opening hours during the summer of 2012. It's not exactly hard to get a late drink in town now, but for the Olympic season, Westminster Council – which covers much of the West End – is ready for many more establishments to run a late bar.

I was enjoying dinner in the Westminster district and experienced the bizarre British ritual of, "Last call!" and then 30 seconds later, "Get the f*ck out!" so longer pub hours are a welcome development. "We will need to strike an appropriate balance between the needs of the Games themselves; helping Westminster businesses to maximise the opportunity which the Olympics present; and supporting the wider Westminster residential and business communities to get the best out of the Games," said Angela Harvey, a Westminster Councillor. Note to Angie: please fire the pushy East Indian security guard who kept repeating, "Please exit" at the Concrete Bar on the Thames while we gulped down pints purchased just minutes before getting booted from the pub.

To cope with the extra visitor numbers, the council has slapped a ban on staff taking holiday during the summer months of 2012. On top of that, building work will be banned in central London between June and August and Transport for London has agreed to run more buses and possibly the Tube into the early hours. Officially, that's to help spectators get back from the Games' venues, but late-hours transport will also act as a green light to revellers.

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.