London has launched its bid to stage the 2012 Olympic Games and publicly the UK events industry is firmly behind it. But behind the public facade lies an industry holding its breath. Should the capital be rewarded for its ambition, only the staging of a successful Olympic Games would portray to the rest of the world what the UK events industry is capable of achieving.
David Walley, chief executive of supplier Arena Event Services comments: "The UK is not on the world stage as much as it should be so we've not been able to showcase what we can do. Consequently there is an undeserved negative perception about the UK event industry."
With this in mind, the industry is looking for London to emulate Sydney, rather than end up being compared to Atlanta, which in 1996 hosted one of the most lacklustre games in recent memory. Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre chief executive Ton van Amerongen believes improved confidence in the destination and its venues among event organisers was not because Sydney hosted the games but because it made the event such a big success.
Olympic legacy
The UK events industry is not only concerned with reputation. It is also keeping a close eye on the Olympic legacy in terms of venues. An 80,000-seat stadium, aquatic centre, velodrome and multi-sport complex comprising three indoor arenas are all proposed as part of the bid.
"We lost quite a bit of confidence as an industry with the Millennium Dome," says Walley. "It was handled so badly by the Government, and the people who would have used it post-millennium were not consulted."
Concerto Group chairman and head of the Corporate Event Association Sam Gill agrees. He hopes that if London does win the bid that there will be closer consultation between the London 2012 committee and the industry about any post-Olympic use of venues. "It is easy for the events industry to be pleased with a legacy they are not paying for, but it is important to make sure it is relevant and affordable," he says.
Positive spin-offs
One London venue not earmarked to host an Olympic activity is the Royal Horticultural Halls. Managing director Rene Dee believes that hosting the games would focus so much attention on London that there could not fail to be a positive spin-off for everyone.
"Visitors to London would not only focus on the host venues but would hold press conferences, dinners and dances at other venues. I think it would have an impact both before, during and after the event," says Dee.
Richard Beggs, managing director of agency Moving Venue Group (MVG) adds: "It was even an event, the launch at the Royal Opera House's Floral Hall, that kicked off the bid, so of course our industry should be behind it."
A report on the cost implications of hosting the Olympics published by engineering firm Arup in November 2002 suggests that the most cost-effective way to provide venues for the minority sports is to build temporary facilities and adapt venues. London 2012 seems to have taken heed of this advice and has incorporated venues such as Alexandra Palace, which will host fencing, and Excel, which will stage contact sports (see map).
The London 2012 committee insists there will be no "white elephants" and director of media Steve Parry says: "We wanted to go for as compact a configuration as possible having decided on Lower Lea Valley as the focal point for the Olympic Village. So it follows that facilities like Excel and the Dome will fall into place because of their proximity. We then tried to get a balance between old and new venues across the east and west of London."
Public support
Excel chief executive Jamie Buchan believes this balance between new facilities and landmark buildings, such as Lord's and Wimbledon, is what makes the proposal special. Since the launch of the bid, the Docklands exhibition centre has undertaken some impromptu marketing of its own to generate public support for the games, handing out 15,000 car stickers at last month's Schroders London International Boat Show.
It is easy to see why Excel would support the bid, not least because of the substantial investment in the transport infrastructure that would ensue if London were to win. It is anticipated that the Jubilee line would benefit from a 45% increase in services as well as planned upgrades for the Central and Northern lines and Docklands Light Railway.
But Buchan is adamant the Olympics would be good for the whole industry. "It is important that the rest of the UK is behind the bid. I worry that the provinces feel they will not get a fair crack of the whip," he remarks. "If they could see the wider benefits for business tourism they would know that London is a gateway to the rest of the UK and it will spawn a huge amount of income."
Surge in business
MVG's Beggs has experienced first-hand the impact a successful Olympic Games can have. He set up an office in Sydney in 1994, three months after the city won the bid to host the 2000 Olympics. "We will see a surge in business no one can anticipate," he says. "The pre-Olympic feeling in Sydney was the same as it is here - that there is a great deal to do, we would face a lot of disruption and will it all be worth the cost? But Sydney quickly got over these negative views and focused on the positive. The Australian office is still really busy and we are now in a better position than we were pre-Olympics."
Pledging support
Beggs has offered London 2012 the services of MVG and says the London Chamber of Commerce is to set up a panel of members from a broad range of industries to show support among the capital's business community. Rival agency Jack Morton Worldwide, which is organising the opening and closing ceremonies for this year's Olympics in Athens, has also pledged its support.
Another positive outcome of a successful bid that Arena's Walley can foresee is the consequent investment in equipment and physical resources. Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre (SCEC) was the second largest venue at the Sydney games and its role was almost a mirror image of the plans proposed for Excel.
"On a practical level, the Olympics was the stimulus to upgrade our security programme to the highest international standards," says SCEC's van Amerongen. "We also inherited hundreds of kilometres of optic cabling that was installed to meet the technological demands of the games and ensure the provision of accurate results. Alongside our existing high-tech features, the cabling has allowed us to continue to offer clients a world-class level of IT and audiovisual support."
Encouraging dialogue
The Concerto Group's Gill says it is hard to put a value on the amount of hospitality business the Olympic Games could generate, but anticipates that it may be as low as 1% of the overall revenue. Despite this, London 2012's Parry is keen to encourage dialogue between the organising committee and the events industry. "The sooner it starts the better, because although if we win we will have seven years to prepare, it will fly by in what seems like five minutes," he says.
The next step in the bidding process is the progression of applicant cities to candidate cities in May and the submission of more detailed proposals in November. Following visits by the International Olympic Committee's evaluation commission, the host city will be announced in July 2005. This is when many in the industry will really sit up and take notice. Until then, many agree with the sentiment of Gill. "London has to win it for us to be really interested," he states.