Christopher Rodrigues, chairman of VisitBritain, admitted in an interview in India’s Economic Times (July 2009) that 2012 Olympics would drive tourists away from London. He said,

“The major impact of the Olympics on tourism in the UK is going to be on other places, because many people tend to avoid the city because of all the Games hype”

See, too, the comment below that article,

“Tom Jenkins, executive director of the ETOA, argued that the tourism benefit of staging the Olympics was something of a myth, saying that the effect of staging a large sports event is to scare regular visitors away from host cities, not just during the events themselves but in the months leading up to them.

‘The principal problem is the impression that everything will be overcrowded and overpriced and this blights a region,’Mr Jenkins said.”

“there appears to be little evidence of any benefit to tourism of hosting an Olympic Games, and considerable evidence of damage.”

See the three reports downloadable here

But I agree that Raynsford has lost his marbles with the Olympics and I’m very disappointd that he has resorted to dirty tactics. This makes me question if he is really trying to do the best for his constituents or if he just wants to shine in the front row of the giant stadium (alongside council leaders) in 2012 and chooses to ignore the pain that his moments of glory will cause to ordinary people for years.

Plenty, since by attacking him Gilligan is yet again demonstrating his inherent inconsistency – clue: having Gilligan on your side is a flag to the rest of London that you don’t have a case, generally, since he generally picks lost and pointless causes.