Your Travel City Guide

Most of the hotels in London are currently involved in a race against time; with the 2012 Summer Olympics just around the corner, London is expected to see a major boost in tourism over the next year or two leading up to the Olympics.

According to the Tourism Council there were an estimated 70,000 mid-quality rooms in 2003 in the heart of central London, and the numbers are expected to triple by 2010 as more and more hotels compete for the budget traveller’s custom. The vast majority of cheap London hotels can be found in the suburbs surrounding central London, while the luxury hotels are mostly centred on the West End and Mayfair areas.

Interestingly enough, the most profitable hotels in the modern era are the ones located near the airports, rather than the ones located in the heart of the city itself. One would assume that tourism would see more travellers staying in the city, but the current economic crisis has put a damper on holidays for many people. This means that fewer individuals are travelling to the city to holiday or on business trips, with an increase in travellers on a short or overnight stay. 

Since 2007 there has been a boom in purpose built hotels ranging from 2 stars to 5 stars as the hotel industry ramps up for the 2012 Olympics, with 3 star hotel chains such as Ibis and Premier Travel Inn leading the pack in terms of productivity. There are a few five-star hotels being built, but the budget customers are where the money is and will be likely to be for some time.