London 2012: Restaurants and bars urged by TfL to target Olympics commuters

Madame Tussads, West End theatres and The Sanctuary Spa were among leisure businesses that this week announced they would be getting involved in using their businesses to encourage non-peak travel in ‘hotspots’ during the Games. Now TfL wants hospitality businesses to follow suit.

Ben Plowden, director of planning at TfL’s surface transport division, said the organisation had set up a website and Twitter feed which would be used to promote the businesses that get involved, and their respective offers, to commuters.

“We will continue to work closely with London’s businesses to ensure they have all the information they need to get ahead of the Games, and would urge any pubs, restaurants and hotels in Games transport ‘hotspot’ areas which are keen to get involved in offering deals to London’s commuters to get in touch with us,” he said.

Business benefits​

The announcement was made at a breakfast event providing travel advice for businesses this week at the at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. The final list of offers, to be announced in June, will be available to employees who work in a Games transport ‘hotspot’ area and they will need to prove this to redeem the offer.

Plowden said the aim was to ease travel congestion at peak times but pubs and restaurants that sign up could take advantage from commuters looking for ways to kill time while they delay their journey home.

“We know that at certain times and in certain locations the public transport network will be much busier than usual. That’s why we are teaming up with a range of London’s top leisure attractions and businesses to ensure that people able to travel home outside peak hours on the busiest days are spoilt for choice when deciding how to spend their evening,” he said.

“As we get closer to the Games, we expect a wide range of organisations, including those in the hospitality industry, to see the benefits of making such offers,” Plowden added.

Travel advice​

Among the businesses already signed up to the scheme, the Society of London Theatre is offering after work theatre tickets starting at £10 and Merlin Entertainments Group is offering late night VIP tours of Madam Tussads. Special spa or cinema deals for commuters have also already been announced.

TfL and London 2012 are providing free travel advice to businesses in London and the UK that might be affected by the Games. Hundreds of companies have attended workshops or received tailored advice so far.

Last month BigHospitality spoke to Mark Evers, the director of London 2012 games transport at TfL, in a video interview where he outlined the help available to companies.

Hospitality businesses wanting to offer deals to commuters are being advised to email trgnurnqbsgurtnzrf@gsy.tbi.hx​. Details of all the offers will be at www.GetAheadoftheGames.com​ and the official Twitter feed​ in June.