Olympics 2012
Seize this golden opportunity

In 2012 the world’s biggest celebration of sport comes to London. So when the Olympics arrive, will Norfolk be placed to secure a piece of the action?

South Norfolk is 90 minutes from London. In 2012 the capital will see a huge influx of sports fans from around the world arrive for the fortnight-long Olympic Games.


Stratford is very close but, at present, people can get from London to York in the same time as they can get to Norwich.


Having travelled that far it is likely that they will look to explore further afield than London during or after their stay, and indeed tourism-related businesses as far away as the West Country are known to be looking to make the most of this.

But, according to the survey results, few Norfolk businesses are optimistic about benefiting from the Games.

A small majority (55pc) said that the Olympics would not bring any benefit to Norfolk, and there are dozens of comments on the same themes: that Norfolk is too far away and the transport links are not good enough.

“The fact is that 54pc don’t feel that the impact will be of any relevance to Norfolk,” says Chris Scargill, tourism and hospitality partner at Larking Gowen chartered accountants. “If you are in Norwich you are less than two hours from Stratford. Surrey is two hours away from Stratford given the traffic, but they are having a big push. You have to ask whether we have a parochial mentality.”

Some of the comments in the survey suggest this to be the case, baldly stating: “It’s 100 miles away”, “Why would they visit Norfolk?” or “It will be London-centric and shortlived”.

Others cite poor transport links as negating the relatively short distance to London.

“I am unaware of what Norfolk is doing to prepare for 2012,” says one. “A faster, more frequent and reliable train service would make a difference.”

“If they don't, it will be because we haven’t got off our backsides and taken advantage of the opportunity and we haven’t got the trains to run fast enough,” says another. A comment from further in the county states: “It may make a difference to Norwich but I do not feel this will spread very far beyond Norwich, and even this will be hindered by the current poor transport links to Norfolk, both road and rail.”

Ian Hacon, chief executive of Blue Sky Leisure and the tourism expert at Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, said that this shows the importance of the Norwich in 90 campaign, which is pressing for better rail links to the city from London.

“We can relate this to the campaign that the chamber is doing at the moment. Stratford is very close but, at present, people can get from London to York in the same time as they can get to Norwich. “If they are coming from abroad and are thinking about a day trip while the athletics, or whatever they’re interested in, isn’t happening, then maybe they are more likely to have heard of York and want to go there as it’s a more famous destination than Norfolk.”

But for Chris Starkie, chief executive of Shaping Norfolk's Future, there are still opportunities to be grasped by local tourism businesses. “We are working with our regional partners to ensure that we maximise the Olympics’ benefits for Norfolk,” he said. “The visitors who are coming from overseas and other parts of the UK should be encouragied to use Norfolk as a base to go to the Games.

“We are working to promote Norfolk and Norwich as ‘Closer Than You Think’, and that applies when it comes to the Games.”