REFILE-London leading destination city in 2012-study - Reuters UK
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By Peter Myers
LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) - The home of this summer's Olympic Games and the Diamond Jubilee celebrations for Britain's Queen Elizabeth is also the world's top destination this year, according to an index released by global credit card company MasterCard on Monday.
MasterCard's "Worldwide Index of Global Destination Cities" predicted that London will see 16.9 million people arrive by air compared with a million less for second place city Paris and airmiles ahead of New York at 13th place with 7.6 million arrivals.
The index also said that London, for the second year running, will attract the highest international visitor spend at $21.1 million, just ahead of New York at $19.4 million.
"London offers better value for money than New York," MasterCard Worldwide's global economic advisor Yuwa Hedrick-Wong told Reuters.
The queen's diamond jubilee saw London fill with visitors from abroad and around Britain for four days of celebrations at the start of June and the Olympics which will take place at venues in and around London from July 27 to August 12 is expected to pull in visitors from all over the planet.
"As our fantastic Diamond Jubilee celebrations demonstrated, London knows how to throw a party and, as we prepare to host the greatest Games the world has ever seen, it is no surprise our capital is the top choice for tourists," London Mayor Boris Johnson said in a statement along with Mastercard's index.
Well established international destination Bangkok was the other big winner in the index at third place with 12.2 million visitors who will spend $19.3 million.
"Bangkok's advantage is that it's a very tolerant culture," Hedrick-Wong told Reuters. "That explains its durability, especially attracting Europeans and Americans. I cannot imagine Western visitors doing the same thing in Malaysia, even China."
The Index, which encompasses 132 of the world's most important cities, is being marketed as a new map for understanding global connectivity.
Businesses and investors might find the Index's list of city growth rates of more interest than current rankings. Brazilian and Chinese cities also featured highly in the survey for both visitor numbers and spend.
"The growth patterns show how important cities are," says Hedrick-Wong, "and they're popping up from everywhere. They take on some really important local or regional significance overnight because of a new development."
Expect to hear much more about Recife and Belo Horizonte in Brazil, and Chengdu, Harbin, Xian and Guangzhou in China.
Using information gleaned from 87 airlines, national tourism boards, the United Nations and other global agencies, the MasterCard Index offers an optimistic overall forecast.
Total visitor numbers and cross-border spending will increase by 5.7 percent and 10.6 percent respectively for the top 20 destination cities in 2012.
The result is a bright spot in a period of slow world economic output, a persistent euro zone crisis and increased uncertainty in the financial sector.
"The growing need and desire to travel, especially by air, are set to expand in spite of the ups and downs of the business cycles," MasterCard's report said.
In a survey also out on Monday, by Mercer, London was ranked the 25th most expensive city in the world and the most expensive city for expatriates. (Editing by Paul Casciato)
London 2012: Zara Phillips Picked To Represent Great Britain At Olympics - huffingtonpost.co.uk
Zara Phillips has been picked to represent Great Britain at this summer's Olympic Games in London.
The Queen's granddaughter described her selection to the eventing team as "awesome".
Phillips, the 2006 world champion, is following in the footsteps of her parents, who both rode in the Olympic Games for the country.
Her mother, the Princess Royal, competed at the 1976 Montreal Games, while her father Captain Mark Phillips was a team gold medallist at Munich in 1972 and then won silver in Seoul 16 years later.
Phillips, who is married to former England rugby captain Mike Tindall, said: "It's awesome to be given this opportunity.
"I am really excited and can't wait to kick on and get him there. Hopefully, we will make it this time."
The eventing star will ride High Kingdom at Greenwich Park next month. Her hopes of an Olympic place in 2004 and 2008 were dashed by injuries to her world title-winning horse Toytown.
She added: "High Kingdom is a pretty cool, very relaxed kind of guy.
"I was really happy with him at Bramham as he had obviously grown up and is improving all the time.
"He's pretty pony-like, a nippy little jumper and easy to manoeuvre, so hopefully it will suit him well in Greenwich.
"High Kingdom is owned by Trevor Hemmings, who has been one of my earliest supporters. He has owned a lot of my horses and has been so supportive, I couldn't do it without him."
Phillips been chosen alongside William Fox-Pitt, Mary King, Piggy French and Tina Cook for London 2012.
She clinched her spot with a third-placed finish in yesterday's Bramham International CIC three-star class after posting a personal best dressage score, and then jumping clear in the showjumping and cross-country phases.
London Hit by Flooding Following Heavy Rain - lbc.co.uk
Monday 11th June 2012
London Fire Brigade had already dealt with more than thirty cases of flooding by early afternoon after some areas saw the average rainfall for the whole of June fall in just 12 hours.
The number is more than double the usual daily calll outs for flood related reasons.
The brigade says it has 15 tonnes of sand ready to be sent out from its distribution centre in Croydon in the event of serious flooding.
The Environment Agency has issued 11 flood alerts for London while the Met Office has issued an Amber warning - the second highest possible - with surface water flooding, localised river flooding and very difficult driving conditions likely.
The flooding caused difficulties for drivers and trains in and around the capital this morning.
Head of road policy at the AA - Paul Watters - has been telling LBC 97.3 it is unpredictable.
"The trouble is with flooding is it can be clear in one place and very deep water in the next, which causes major gridlock," he explained.
"Also drivers braking down, of course, which adds to the problem. We certainly did know about it, we certainly did have the authorities ready for but the system can't cope. It's just like snow in a way."
Euro 2012: London fire safety posters translated - BBC News
Foreign language posters have been produced to target the problem of people causing kitchen fires while drunk during the Euro 2012 tournament.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) said it hoped to prevent the city's different nationalities leaving cooking unattended after drinking.
The posters come in seven foreign languages including Polish and Russian.
It is the first time translations have been used for an international competition, said LFB.
'Diverse city'The fire brigade's research shows drunk Londoners cause two fires a day.
It also shows a quarter of those who die in fires have alcohol in their systems and over half of alcohol-related fires happen because someone has fallen asleep.
Posters featuring the slogan "Goal" above a burger, will appear in pub lavatories across central London.
The posters have been produced in French, Polish, Ukrainian, German, Russian, Portuguese and Spanish.
They have been sent to different nationality newspapers in London, said LFB.
A spokesman for LFB said that the idea to translate posters was prompted by the BBC's story on London being considered France's sixth biggest city in terms of population.
He said: "London is a diverse city. It's not just England fans at risk.
"There was no extra cost and it will get the message out."
London Fire Brigade's commissioner, Ron Dobson, said: "During Euro 2012, many Londoners will go straight from work to the pub to watch the football.
"Our research shows cooking after having one too many plays a massive part in house fires and, sadly, one in every four fire deaths involves alcohol."
London to be no-go zone for drivers during Olympic Games - The Guardian
Motorists will be warned to avoid central London and areas around all Olympic venues from mid-July onwards, with transport chiefs predicting large scale congestion in the fortnight before the opening ceremony as a deluge of athletes, officials and media arrive.
The crowds that have turned out around the country to greet the Olympic torch have increased the concerns of Olympic transport chiefs about the scale of the challenge in the runup to the Games.
Drivers will also be told to avoid the area around the 109-mile Olympic Route Network (ORN), making large areas of London an effective no-go area for six weeks from mid-July.
Since London won the right to host the Games in 2005 its crowded transport infrastructure has been an issue for organisers and critics.
Independent traffic management experts have warned of the danger of a perfect storm of problems around the opening weekend, but the London mayor, Boris Johnson, points to £6.5bn of investment in the transport system and has linked the unfounded "paranoia" to that surrounding the millennium bug in 1999.
A series of specific changes to the road system in and around London are being unveiledon Tuesday, including the reopening of the much criticised M4 bus lane as a Games lane from the weekend of 14 July.
"In a normal July you'd see traffic levels drifting off slightly as you ease into summer and things get easier on the roads, said Garrett Emmerson, chief operating officer, surface transport at Transport for London.
"This July is going to feel more like the runup to Christmas.
"Traffic is going to get heavier as more and more Games activity takes place. We've got to change London's network to cope with that."
When 20,000 members of the media beginning to arrive in the second week of July, traffic flow in the busy Kingsway tunnel will be reversed to "assist movements" at the media hotel hub in Bloomsbury and a series of signal changes will be made.
"It's very clear that London is going to be very crowded," said Emmerson. "That is going to start from the beginning of the week before the Games."
From 21 July, when the Olympic torch is due to arrive in the capital, the Olympic Route Network – including 30 miles of dedicated lanes – will be introduced, simplifying junctions, removing pedestrian crossings, banning right hand turns and removing parking bays. The full network will come into effect on 25 July, when the torch enters central London.
Recent serious problems with the Jubilee and Central underground lines and complaints about overcrowding during the jubilee weekend have renewed concern over transport during the Games.
Transport for London officials insisted the extended bank holiday was encouraging and proved that motorists would heed messages to stay out of central London, with traffic down 40%.
"People now get there is something coming down the tracks and they need to prepare for it," said Emmerson. "We now need to move into what they need to do about it and when."
He said TfL's Get Ahead of the Games website had had over a million hits.
Emmerson said TfL was "now very confident" about major employers and businesses that needed to change their delivery plans. "We now need to move them into operational phase."
According to TfL's predictions, there will be around 1 million extra people in London over the course of the Games making 3m extra trips.
But the effect will be mitigated by a reduction in the number of non-ticket holding tourists visiting London. The biggest concerns are over "hotspots" on particular days.
TfL has warned that rail and tube users face delays of more than half an hour at key stations, with London Bridge among the worst affected.
London 2012 organisers and local authorities will start to introduce parking restrictions in mid-July. The handful of tow trucks that usually operate in the capital will swell to about 70 at Games time to remove cars that block the ORN and restricted parking zones.
TfL plans to employ 3,000 back office staff on the street in magenta tabards to provide travel advice. Each will be given an iPad to allow them to deliver up to the minute advice.
London Irish forward Gibson on bench for England - Reading Evening Post
Jamie Gibson has been named among the England replacements for their tour match against the South Africa Southern Barbarians in Kimberley on Wednesday (2pm kick-off).
The absence of London Irish team-mate Jonathan Joseph suggests he could start the second Test.
The 21-year-old centre impressed after coming off the bench for the final few minutes in Saturday's 22-17 defeat in Durban.
He was involved in England's solitary try and, with Brad Barritt and Mike Brown both ruled out, is a contender to start in Johannesburg on Saturday.
His pace helped create a last-gasp try for Ben Foden and he showed his promise to fuller effect a fortnight earlier against the Barbarians when he scored two tries.
England coach Stuart Lancaster said: “Getting JJ on gave us a little spark that ignited a try.
"This is a tour to win games, clearly, but it’s also a tour to look at players and options."
Joseph was dubbed “the next Jeremy Guscott,” by his then coach at London Irish, Mike Catt, who, is now in charge of England’s attack.
“JJ is special, he creates something out of nothing,” Catt said. “His footwork is phenomenal and his ability to do things at pace creates space for others.
"He hardly ever makes an error, which is what distinguishes a great player from a good player.
"And, no, I’ve not saddled him with the Jerry Guscott tag because that’s something he’s going to have to cope with. He knows how good he can be.”
Alex Corbisiero, the other Exiles player in the 42-man party, has yet to feature due to a knee injury.
England also have a match against SA Barbarians North on June 19 before the third and final test in Port Elizabeth on June 23.
England (v South Africa Southern Barbarians): 15 Alex Goode; 14 David Strettle (both Saracens), 13 Anthony Allen (Leicester), 12 Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins), 11 Christian Wade (Wasps); 10 Charlie Hodgson (Saracens), 9 Danny Care (Harlequins); 1 Matt Mullan (Worcester), 2 Joe Gray (Harlequins), 3 Paul Doran Jones (Northampton), 4 Graham Kitchener (Leicester), 5 George Robson (capt, Harlequins), 6 James Haskell (Otago Highlanders), 7 Carl Fearns (Bath), 8 Thomas Waldrom (Leicester).
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs (Leicester), 17 Rupert Harden (Gloucester), 18 Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), 19 Jamie Gibson (London Irish), 20 Lee Dickson (Northampton), 21 George Lowe (Harlequins), 22 Nick Abendanon (Bath).
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