Hotel Giants to sponsor 2012 Olympic Games
Hotel heavyweights IHG are reportedly going to pay £10 million to sponsor the 2012 Olympic Games.
It is thought that the deal will be split with £5 million given to the games in capital and the other half being offered in services and usage of their hotels in London.
IHG's Holiday Inn hotel chain, which was recently the subject of a £600 million relaunch, will be the official provider of hotel rooms during the Games.
In offering sponsorship IHG will be joining companies such as BP, British Airways and EDF Energy. Such a large deal will be seen as a bold move in the face of global economy woes.
London hotels recently came under fire by civic campaign groups who deemed them “unfit” to play host to the 2012 Olympic Games. The London Citizens campaign group interviewed hotel visitors, workers, managers and also cleaning agencies. They criticised low wages and harsh conditions for the employees, many of whom are migrant workers.
The report claimed that: “The heart of the problem is the treatment of workers and the management's reliance on a transitory, migrant labour force that is hired and fired at will. Dickensian' is not too strong a word to describe the conditions that prevail in some of London's leading hotels.”
“Entitled for Change”, the campaign requests that hotels increase hourly wages to £7.45 before the Olympic Games commence. It also called for more training and language lessons.
However the British Hospitality Association told BBC News: “At a time of recession, when the hospitality industry in London is experiencing severe cost pressures and falling demand, the priority has to be to preserve jobs as far as is possible. Substantial wage increases are just not realistic at this time”.
Hotels News posted by Warren McGraw on 01 June 2009
Hotels, hotel, hotels in London
http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1136619.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7962776.stm
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