Hoteliers hit back over ‘Olympic Rates’ 11/06/2010 |
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Hotel owners in Weymouth have hit out at the local council after accusing the authorities of trying to cash-in on the Olympics.
Rates, which are reviewed every five years, shot up a startling 48% on the south coast following news that Weymouth will co-host the sailing events at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Hotelier Mr Price, chairman of the Weymouth Hotel and Guesthouse Leaseholders Association, told the BBC: "I asked the council if they could reason the rent hikes.
"I had it in black and white... saying that because the review now covers the summer Olympics of 2012 it will obviously affect tariffs and that should be taken into consideration when they are doing rent reviews.
"It is a very short-sighted approach - is it suggested that shops charge 50% more for their goods?
"We don't want to put people off by raising room rates, we want to see the people that come here for one or two days over the Olympics coming back the year after for a week or longer."
However, Geoff Petherick, from Weymouth and Portland Borough Council hit back after claiming the event will bring nearly £400 million to the region.
He said: "What we are trying to do as a council is equalise the rents across all of hoteliers, which is obviously a fair way to operate.
"If we catch anyone putting prices up over the Olympics they will be in serious trouble.
"The ethos of the Games is that everyone will be able to come in to the country or from the UK to attend it and the last thing we would expect is inflated room rates."
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