TOURISM in Oxford has remained largely unaffected by Olympic fever, despite expectations that the games would drive £1bn in sales to “the UK High Street”.
Bus companies, hotels and Oxfordshire’s tourism board Visit Oxfordshire have all reported little change in business since the Olympics began. Joanne Butler, tourism manager at Visit Oxfordshire, said: “We haven’t seen a huge increase in visitor numbers, it is pretty much on a par with last year.
“Since the start of the Games we have seen a lot of international groups coming here, wearing Olympics brands, so they obviously came up from the park to take a look.
“I think people are more looking to come after the games. We are hoping the Olympic Park will become a popular attraction and then people will come up here.”
The Olympics opened in London last Friday, and in the morning the Oxford Tube bus drivers were reporting delays caused by Olympic traffic.
Both Stagecoach and Oxford Bus Company said there was some extra demand in Olympic-related travellers.
The Four Pillars hotel in Thame was not overrun with customers. General manager Jonathan Oldroyd, said: “If anything it’s slightly under what we expected.”