Deserted London 2012: Shops, theatres and businesses all empty as visitor levels fall by a THIRD over fears of Games travel chaos

• Games have pulled 100,000 foreign tourists into the capital, much lower than the 300,000 expected in a typical summer
• Leading London attractions see visitor numbers fall by 35 per cent
• Hotel bookings in London 'very substantially down'
• Businesses near sailing venues in Weymouth and Portland say this year's summer tourist season is the worst in half a century

Overblown warnings of Olympics travel chaos are turning key sites into ‘ghost towns’ and threatening Britain’s economic recovery, say business leaders.
Messages to stay away from London and other key venues have worked too well, with visitor numbers suffering catastrophic falls.
Incredibly, almost a third of the five million people employed in the capital are expected to heed official advice to work from home at some point over the fortnight to avoid disruption which has failed to materialise.

Bare: Overblown warnings of Olympics travel chaos are turning key sites into 'ghost towns' and threatening Britain's economic recovery, say business leaders. This image shows an empty Westfield shopping centre at Shepherds Bush at lunchtime yesterday

Empty: Messages to stay away from London and other key venues have worked too well, with visitor numbers suffering catastrophic falls. A usually heavily congested Blackwall Approach is virtually deserted

Leading attractions, meanwhile, are reporting visitor numbers down by a third on the same period  last year.
Experts insist that even if the short-term economic benefits of hosting the Games do not materialise, Britain will enjoy ‘incalculable’ longer-term benefits in terms of increased trade and tourism.

 

But pressure is growing for transport bosses to alter their advice to travellers and make it clear Britain is open for business.
Ministers are also facing calls  to rethink their decision to allow hundreds of thousands of civil servants to work from home while the Games are on.

Pleas: Pressure is growing for transport bosses to alter their advice to travellers and make it clear Britain is open for business. Oxford Street in London appears to be empty yesterday afternoon

Worrying: Restaurants in Covent Garden are suffering a down turn in trade as customers stay away from the area

No custom: Ministers are also facing calls to rethink their decision to allow hundreds of thousands of civil servants to work from home while the Games are on. This picture shows an empty Spitalfields Market during lunchtime

Bernard Donoghue, of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, which represents venues ranging from London Zoo to St Paul’s Cathedral, said: ‘There are  two groups of people missing.
'The first are general visitors to London, who are staying clear because  of the perception that it will  be busy.
‘The second are Londoners and Brits who have been warned there will be a transport nightmare. Our message to them is that while it may be sensible to avoid certain peak times and locations, transport is running very smoothly.
‘Ironically there has never been a better time to visit our attractions because the queues are shorter and opening times have been extended.’
Mr Donoghue said advice to travellers should be amended, adding: ‘As long as you avoid peak times and stations, London is surprisingly accessible and open for business.’
According to the world’s largest hotel survey, details of which were published yesterday, a promised influx of visitors is not having the bumper effect on UK businesses for which many were hoping.
One disillusioned hotelier told TripAdvisor that ‘the negative impact of the Olympic Games’ was a nasty surprise for business.

Open: Westminster Bridge appears almost empty of pedestrians and vehicles during morning rush hour in central London

Where is everyone? An unusually quiet Regent Street in London. Businesses say the centre of the city has become a 'ghost town' during the Olympics

Shunned: The Games has attracted 100,000 foreign visitors to London, but this is well below the estimated 300,000 who come during a typical summer

Down the Tube: Olympic stewards wait to give tourists assistance at an unusually quiet Piccadilly Circus

Quiet: Streets in the central shopping area of Greenwich looked almost deserted as the final stages of the team equestrian event got under way

Steve McNamara, of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, said  cab drivers had also been hit  hard. He said: ‘Normally about 90 per cent of our customers are Londoners but they’ve all left the city and haven’t been replaced by tourists.
'I don’t know where all these tourists are or how they’re getting about, but London is like a ghost town.’
London Mayor Boris Johnson insisted: ‘Things are going really well. Many, many thousands of  people are flowing into London,  the hotels are busy, the Olympic venues are attracting huge numbers and people are enjoying the brilliant live sites, a raft of free events for all the family and the free sport as well, with hundreds of thousands out over the weekend for the cycling.’

Central reservations: Foreign visitors in Trafalgar Square, with the National Gallery in the background. Major attractions have reported a fall in attendance around the Olympic period

Subdued: The normally bustling Carnaby Street in London's Soho has looked very different since the Olympics began at the weekend

The Prime Minister, meanwhile, has predicted £13billion of economic investment should flow from the Games over four years, some of it from tourism.
Analysis by the Bank of England suggests that the Olympics could add up to 0.25 per cent to gross domestic product in the third quarter, following a slide into a double-dip recession.
But independent economists warned the Games could in fact damage the economy – denting hopes of a short-term Olympic boost.
George Buckley, economist at Deutsche Bank, said: ‘Yes,  there are more people here so there might be more spending, but Oxford Street is quite quiet and there are plenty of people who  are at work but have their feet  on desks watching the Olympics  on TV.

Running smoothly: Traffic moves freely alongside Olympic lanes on Park Lane, during the morning rush hour in central London

Empty: The scene on Millbank, outside Westminster Palace, at 6pm, when the roads are normally congested

Roomy: Pedestrians walk on the pavement but there was a surprising lack of cars on London Bridge at 2pm

Incredible: London Bridge Underground station was also totally clear during the supposed rush hour

Clear run: Despite a packed Games schedule coinciding with the start of the working week, London's usually packed roads were at times as empty as they are on Christmas Day

'That will hit productivity.’  Andrew Goodwin, economic adviser to the Ernst & Young Item Club, predicted a ‘small positive’ from the Olympics. ‘But it is not going to be the silver bullet that people were hoping for.’
■ The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has warned that the UK economy will shrink this year – making it the first major international watchdog to forecast a year of contraction.
The economy crashed 0.7 per cent in the second quarter, leaving Britain trapped in the longest downturn for 100 years and the worst double-dip for more than half a century.

Easy rider: This biker practically has the road to himself. The surprising turn of events was partly credited to staff being allowed to work from home

Spot the car: Drivers heeded official advice to stay out of the centre of the capital during the Games fortnight

Happy: In a further attempt to show the world how well the Tube is coping, David Cameron tweeted a picture of himself in a carriage on the way to watch the synchronised diving

Bare: The surprisingly empty roads was credited to staff being allowed to work from home and the decision to open some of the Olympic carriageways to other drivers. This shows the A4 close to Earl's Court

Change of plan: Officials turned off some Games Lanes after Olympic VIPs opted to use public transport