60% say Games good advertisement for London and 48% for Britain; enthusiasm for Olympics grows
The majority believe that the Games will be a good advertisement for London, and just about half think they will also serve to advertise Britain as a whole, our poll shows.
Consistent with the growing interest in the Olympics as the Games are now well underway, more people now also feel that London was right to bid to host the 2012 Games, while still over one third feel it was the wrong choice.
- 60% agree that the 2012 Olympic Games will be a good advert for London, and 48% agree that the 2012 Olympic Games will be a good advert for the whole of Britain
- 53% now say, with all things considered, London should have bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, compared to 48% who felt this way in March
- 35% say that London should not have bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, compared with two in five (40%) who said the same in March
London Mayor Boris Johnson has suggested that the Olympics Games will greatly benefit Britain by providing a big economic boost to the capital, with a platform to market British goods and services to international visitors. Mr Johnson announced that with the Olympics drawing thousands of foreigners to our doorstep, we’ve got “the heads of most of the world’s great businesses” to make an impact on.
“We’re going to be showing what London has to offer; we’re going to be making it clear there are fantastic opportunities for investment, not just in the Olympic Park but across London,” said Mr Johnson.
In conjunction with this, ‘Marketing Quotes’ have also said they believe the London 2012 Olympics is Britain's best marketing opportunity yet, describing this summer as a “golden opportunity” for businesses to market ‘Made in Britain’ to the world.
Economic boost or ‘soggy mess’?
Contrastingly, the Daily Mail has reported how other nations remain sceptical of Britain’s ability to host the Games and use it to their advantage, with Germany's leading news magazine recently mocking the facilities, highlighting the nation’s debts and warning that the Games are destined to go down in history as nothing more than a "soggy mess."
“The 2012 London Olympics will probably end up looking like the host city itself: a little chaotic, a little infuriating, never perfect, but with a lot of room for improvisation, charm and talent,” the article reads. “Those who live there will be delighted, of course, but only once it’s over.”
