Visit London, the UK capital's official visitor organisation, has urged the government to take tourism seriously and start preparing for the London 2012 opportunity. Speaking on the eve of British Tourism Week [10-18 March], Visit London's Chief Executive James Bidwell said: "We have just over 4 years until we prepare to welcome the world to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and we need to ensure that appropriate funding is in place to maximise the forecast £2.9bn tourism legacy across the UK."
 
Mr Bidwell said Visit London was leading preparations to maximise the tourism benefits for London by capitalising on the exposure and momentum of the 2008 Beijing Games.

"Interest in London as a host city will peak at the handover to London on 24 August. Work is well underway to showcase the capital and the UK during the 2008 Beijing Games; however, we need stronger engagement from central government on tourism across all nations and regions of Britain," Mr Bidwell said.

"Visit London is urging the government to ensure appropriate, separate funding is allocated to promoting London and the UK as a destination around the 2012 Games."

Mr Bidwell said that although the government had published a London 2012 tourism strategy in 2007 no new funding has been allocated to leverage the tourism legacy of the Games.

"If the government is committed to assisting the UK's £85bn tourism industry prepare for London 2012 and beyond then it cannot do so by cutting funding to bodies that are tasked with delivering the tourism legacy as it did with VisitBritain last year," he said.
 
Mr Bidwell added: "London drives the UK's visitor economy. Tourism in the capital is worth £15bn a year, or 7% of London's GDP and employs around 280,000 in full-time equivalent jobs.”