London & Partners to appoint PR agency over fears visitor numbers will drop during 2012 Olympics
London & Partners, the body set up on 1 April by Boris Johnson to replace Think London and Visit London, has issued a £184,000 tender through the COI.
The promotional body is looking for a PR agency to support the ‘Limited Edition London’ campaign and to create a strategy to drive visitors in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.
Leaked briefing documents reveal that there are concerns about tourism numbers dropping during the Olympics, with the literature reportedly saying: “There is a very real threat to tourism caused by displacement, ie visitors actively staying away because of London’s host city status.
“This phenomenon has been recognised in all host cities of large sporting events and there is a potential to lose around 50 per cent of overnight visitors to the capital.”
The appointed agency is likely to start next month and work through until July 2012.