LONDON The British Hospitality Association is fielding complaints from London hoteliers angry over guestroom allotments for the 2012 Olympics that are being resold at “grossly inflated prices.”
Tour operators including Thomas Cook are packaging guestrooms with event tickets and charging premiums many times the cost of the guestrooms. IHG, Hilton Worldwide, Thistle Hotels and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide are among the companies that have objected to the practice, according to a Telegraph report. The newspaper characterizes the hoteliers as “furious.”
The British Hospitality Association is meeting this week with the London Olympics organizing committee to address the issue.
With still more than a year before the 2012 Summer Olympics open, hotel pricing has become a hot topic in London. Organizers worry that high hotel rates could suppress attendance at the Games, as well as UK tourism overall. Government tourism agency Visit Britain is asking hoteliers to sign a fair pricing agreement for the Olympics.