The PIE News has learned that English language schools in London, and the agencies that serve them, have seen a worrying drop in business for July and August as a direct result of the Olympic Games.
Many complain that the high cost of flights and accommodation, along with the prospect of crowds, visa delays and security issues, have scared students off in this usually busy period for schools. Some say that it is the negative publicity surrounding these issues that has been most damaging.
Judy Loren, principal of Excel English, where bookings were down 10% on a usual summer period, says: “July is a lot quieter than normal. When it hits July 20 bookings are way under what they would normally be, and August is really quiet. It’s so noticeable that the drop-off in numbers is happening in the week of the opening ceremony.”
At a recent quarterly meeting for English UK London, more than half of 21 schools surveyed said numbers were down for the summer, a situation described by Chairman Jane Dancaster as “very, very unusual”.
She stresses that other factors, such as visa restrictions in the UK and the eurozone crisis, are also at play. However, in anonymous comments in the survey, around half of schools said the Olympics had been contributing factor.
“Some agents are seeing dips as extreme as 40%”
Oscar Porras, director and owner of Madrid based agency Midleton School, says he usually sends 600 students abroad during July and August but is down 10% because of London business. “Two months ago we thought it would be 30%,” he says, adding that some agents are seeing dips as extreme as 40%.
The Olympic Park will be one of the unique attractions for students this summer (photo courtesy of LOCOG)
Porras says the high cost of flights because of the Olympics have been a major issue. When making advance bookings in November and December, Midleton had to pay an average €430 for Madrid to London flights on non-budget airlines. It has since seen a spate of cancellations. German agency DIREKT Sprachreisen, where UK bookings are down 10-15%, has seen a similar pattern.
“This year, flights for Heathrow in particular got expensive very early, and have reached an extraordinary high price level. Airlines cannot open new flights due to higher demand, as slots at airports are limited, so prices go up,” says owner Andreas van Leeuwen.
“It’s cheaper than it would normally be, don’t believe what you read”
Anecdotal evidence shows flight prices have started to fall as the Olympics gets closer. Summer accommodation in the capital was also priced high (with some halls of residence charging up to three times their normal rates, according to one source), but many providers failed to fill rooms and are offering large discounts – a trend seen across the capital’s lettings market. Other schools avoided problems by working with providers offering fixed rate deals. [more>>]
Such improvements have led some to claim that it is negative perceptions surrounding the Games, often propagated by the media, that now deter students. London and Partners, the official promotional body for the city, refers to the phenomenon as “displacement” – where tourism grows before and after a major event such as the Olympics, but dips during it because of fears a city will not be conducive to regular tourism.
Hauke Tallon at the London School of English says: “The Swiss press at the beginning of the year were saying, ‘if you don’t have Olympics tickets, why on earth would you go to London this summer? Hotel prices are outrageous. Flight costs are very high. The transport system is going to go into complete meltdown because it is already at 95% capacity’.
“The underlying message was, ‘you’d be mad to go.’ But things have changed since then – now flights are affordable, accommodation is very good value. It’s a completely different picture.”
“The Swiss press were saying, ‘if you don’t have Olympics tickets, why on earth would you go to London?”
Van Leeuwen agrees: “The German public also fears high prices for accommodation, food and everything. We experienced the same reaction in the past with mega events like the Olympics in Beijing and the football World Cup in Cape Town.”
In response London and Partners is running campaigns to lower the costs of flights and attractions. It also created marketing materials with EUK to reassure agents that London will be open for business, although some schools doubt these will carry weight.
Others are more upbeat. One of the biggest agent chains to operate in Europe, headquartered in Switzerland, ESL, says it has had no problem with flights and accommodation and that bookings are on track. Dancaster, who is also principal of Wimbledon School where summer bookings are on the whole healthy, adds that the Olympics is having a very positive effect.
“I’m sure there is a certain Olympic effect for some people… For many in London we also see the Olympics as a very positive marketing tool.”
“London is going to be buzzing we think… Students will have the experience of a lifetime”
She points out that English UK London schools will be holding a collective “mini-Olympics” sports day at Regents College, as well as holding their own sports-related outings, rolled in with other events such as the Wimbledon tennis championships.
“London is going to be buzzing we think… Students will have the experience of a lifetime. It’s an absolutely unique experience to be here, learning English during the Olympics.”
Like many schools, The London School of English is hoping for a last minute pick-up in business. “For many schools part of this is a public information exercise to say, ‘look, you may well believe that you can’t get flights, you can’t get accommodation, but that is simply not the case… It’s cheaper than it would normally be, don’t believe what you read.”
