Collapse in tourist bookings threatens London’s theatres as Olympics could force West End shutdown

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s theatre company is considering closing its West End shows during next year’s Olympics, with a massive slump expected to hit tourism bookings during the Games fortnight next July and August.



The move by the Really Useful Group, which stages The Wizard of Oz and The Phantom Of The Opera, comes as the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) says its members are reporting bookings in the capital for the period down 95 per cent.



The Really Useful Group said: ‘It’s being discussed, although nothing has yet been confirmed.’ It may come down to the producers of each show to decide whether to close for the period, it said.



Bowing out: The Wizard Of Oz is one of the shows likely to shut during the Games

John Wales, managing director of the Encore Tickets agency, said: ‘We anticipate a significant decline in business in July and August 2012 for London theatres and attractions. At present I anticipate sales from tourists to be at least 40 per cent down on last year, so we are looking urgently at alternative customers to the traditional inbound visitor.’



The Society of London Theatre said no closures had yet been announced for the period.



Tom Jenkins, executive director of ETOA, said: ‘We always see a decline in demand for a destination during an Olympic year, so some of this was to be expected.

‘But this tendency is becoming absolute as the hotel rates climb in July and August. During the Olympic period itself there is almost no demand from regular tourists.’



John Boulding, president of Insight Vacations, a luxury tour operator, said: ‘One of the main reasons is that the hotels believe they are going to be full. London appears to have priced itself out of the market in July and August.’



These views clash with the UK Hotels Forecast from accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers, which said in March that occupancy levels in the capital’s hotels were likely to soar during the third quarter of 2012 as a result of the Olympics, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Farnborough International Air Show in the same period.

