Team GB’s Olympics success will drive domestic tourism for the 2012 games in the capital, according to Visit London.
The capital’s official tourist organisation said the impressive medals haul by British Olympians this year in Bejing would help promote the games due to take place in London in 2012.
Chief executive James Bidwell said: “These results will only energise the British public ahead of our own London games in 2012. The majority of visitors to London 2012 will be domestic visitors and no doubt great sporting expectations and results will help us to deliver the 2012 tourism legacy.”
He added that the performance of Team GB at this year’s Olympics had been phenomenal. “Our sportsmen and sportswomen are the pride of London and Britain,” he added.
Tourism in London is worth more than £16 billion, supporting 250,000 full-time jobs. The result of increased visitors as a result of staging the games in 2012 is likely to be a £2.2 billion legacy.
An independent report by Oxford Economics estimates there will be just over 908,000 visitors to London 2012, of these 586,000 will be domestic and 322,000 will be from overseas.