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London tourism struggles during Games
22:37 AEST Tue Jul 31 2012

London's tourism industry is struggling to compete with the impact of the Olympic Games, which left the host city a "ghost town", businesses say.

Many traditional tourist hotspots have reported a fall in ticket sales as visitors flock to Olympic venues across the capital.

Theatre companies said they were seeing a "mixed picture" with many companies struggling due to the lack of footfall in the West End.

Mark Rubinstein, president of the Society of London Theatre, said: "Normally tourists will visit central London but they are mostly here to see the Games.

"The message about travel problems also seems to have kept people away. My experience is things are running smoothly and people should not be put off."

Sri Balay, online sales manager at Leicester Square Box Office, said: "Theatre in general is pretty quiet. We have a lot of visitors going past but they are going to Olympic events or spending a lot on hotels.

"We would usually be busy at this time of year because it's the summer holidays and lots of families enjoy going to the theatre. But at the moment it's very quiet."

Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, said cab drivers had been hit hard and described London as a "ghost town".

Mr McNamara added: "Anecdotally our business is down by about 20-40 per cent epending on the time of day.

"Normally about 90 per cent of our customers are Londoners but they've all left the city and haven't been replaced by tourists.

"I don't know where all these tourists are or how they're getting about but London is like a ghost town.'

A spokeswoman for the British Museum said there had been a fall in the number of visitors.

"Anecdotally at the moment, it is looking like we are about 25-30 per cent down on the same time last year," she said.

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Opening Ceremony
Archery
Athletics
Badminton
Basketball
Beach Volleyball
Boxing
BMX
Cycling
Diving
Equestrian
Fencing
Football
Gymnastics
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
Rowing/Canoe/Kayak
Sailing
Shooting
Swimming
Synchro
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Triathlon
Volleyball
Water Polo
Weightlifting
Wrestling
Closing ceremony
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