Not all will agree, but one of the biggest stars of the Olympics for me....

Has been OUR big, old, lovely capital city! From the grand, old historic landmarks to smashing brand new Olympic park, stadium and the wonderful Vellodrome. The way the Serpentine and Hyde Park hosted the Triathlon today was amazing, this is why it was given to London. So much graft has gone into this and the vibe here is fantastic. Whatever you think of London/the South, I hope folk will agree the old girl has looked absolutely stunning and has carried this massive event off in great style! I'm proud to be British, proud to be a Yorkshireman and proud to be a Londoner. Hip, hip....

 

Well there's certainly been a lot of positive press over here about the city itself - I'm hoping this and the Jubilee celebrations earlier will do wonders for tourism in the UK over the next couple of years. The cycling road races and the marathons showed some fantastic scenery and sights (who can forget that shot of Wiggins in his "throne" against the backdrop of Hampton Court?!) - it has certainly received some very positive comments here. It's been fantastic publicity so far, mainly for London admittedly, but I'm sure there will be some knock-on effects for tourism in the UK generally some time down the line.

Fingers crossed the London Olympics carry on in the same very positive vein and that there are no major incidents to tarnish it the coming days.

 

The North will be waiting for the old trickle-down effect. That still is on hold from the 80's.

 

Agreed - but anything is better than nothing, surely?

All I know is that if a Canadian or an American sees an advert to take a trip to the U.K. it means just that, it doesn't usually mean just London, because it's not worth the travel and time difference for just a few days in London. Ads show other parts of the U.K. - usually Edinburgh and York. Can't necessarily say the same for Europeans who travel to London though.

 

Agree totally! London has done a fantastic job with these games - organisation , venues , everything. Wasn't a fan of the stadium design but it looks great when it's full and the atmosphere has been second to non. The team have responded to this and produced some excellent performances

 

We have done a great job hosting it, expected no less though, we are good at stuff like that. The Games themselves have shown how good we are at most sports too.

 

I'd love to see a fraction of the money that gets spent on London being spent on Barnsley or Wakefield or other towns and cities in the North. I'm not saying London hasn't done a good job but so much money has been spent it had to be a major success. I think that the outstanding achievements by the athletes, many of them from Yorkshire, have made the Olympics the success they have.

 

I agree, I said similar whilst watching the marathon at the weekend, taking the route around many of the famous sights - a 3 hour advert for London being broadcast around the world.....priceless publicity. And yes, many tourists may only go to London but some will venture further afield. But even tourism to London can benefit the wider economy of the companies that supply the venues, hotels etc.

As to whether the Olympics have benefitted the regions - many countries had training camps before the games in Yorkshire. US swimmers were in Sheffield, Chinese team in Leeds etc. There was a piece on Look North a couple of weeks ago as to how much it was worth the the regional economy and it was not unsubstantial.

 

Re: The Olympics in Barnsley

Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.

London is one of the best places on Earth. I'm always willing to get down to London.
If I had the money to have holidays in other places and also have a holiday in London then I would have at least two weeks holiday in London every year.
I'd even consider living there for a while to see how things went.
Had 3 days working in Ealing two weeks ago - loved it - great buzz about the place.

 

Re: The Olympics in Barnsley

All the feytin' events could be held on Wellington Street or Peel Square.

 

London......its all me,me,me

 

Saw something the other day saying that visitor figures are currently down on last year, and the last few Olympics took several years before they recovered to pre-Games levels. IIRC Sydney took 3-4 years for visitor levels to recover.

Saying that, the marathon, road cycling and triathlon in particular have really shown the capital off at its best.

 

Re: The Olympics in Barnsley

I was meaning money rather than events to be honest. Aside from the Olympics the South East and London do seem to have vast amounts of money spent on them and it seems disproportionate to the rest of the country. I wish that money was more evenly spread across the country, particularly up north.

 

Re: The Olympics in Barnsley

 

Re: The Olympics in Barnsley

And it was the police from up North that had to help out the Metropolitan Police last year when you Londoners decided it was a good idea to riot and cause billions of pounds worth of damage.
You're welcome.

 

Re: The Olympics in Barnsley

Us Londoners? Sporadic nationwide rioting and damage into 7 zeros(?) = the spectacular event of the Olympic Games? Good post Kev! Wait til you have one of those on your doorstep.

 

Re: The Olympics in Barnsley

MY doorstep? Are you only from Barnsley when it suits?
The Games and their settings have been wonderful, a privilege and joy to witness. They've shown our capital at it's very best.

 

Re: The Olympics in Barnsley

Load of rubbish

 

london is still populated by a high proportion of scumbags....................... not all cheeky chirpy salt of the earth cockernee types ya know

hth