Data showing international profile of Olympics visitors via Amadeus and ForwardKeys

• Travel to London set to be 13% higher than the same period in 2011, with travellers from the US and Germany representing the highest number of in-bound visitors to date
• Analysis shows opportunity for leisure industry as London experiences surge in visitors
• Data shows that UK citizens appear to be deferring outbound travel, which surges +10% year-on-year in the three weeks following the Games

Madrid, Spain -- Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, in conjunction with Forward Data SL, a market research and consulting company publishing ForwardKeys.com, today unveil a range of travel data trends, based on actual global air reservations, which details the impact of the London 2012 Olympics. With approximately 50 days to go before the Games, the findings provide a country-by-country view of where visitors to London during the Olympics period[1] are coming from. The data shows that booking figures for the Olympics period, made by 12 May 2012, are 13% higher than in 2011.

Key trends from the research include:

• Top source countries include USA and Germany, with arrivals from BRICS increasing by 40%
  The USA is the single biggest source nation for traffic to the Olympics, accounting for 19% of total expected arrivals – a 12% increase on 2011. Germany is the second largest source market, responsible for 8% of total expected arrivals. Interestingly, BRICS nations (Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa) are emerging as important source nations for long-haul travel to London during the Olympics period: BRICS countries are seeing a 40% increase in bookings compared with 2011, representing a 9% share of total arrivals.
• Europe and North America driving traffic to London, but Asia takes gold for biggest growth
  Europe is the source region for the greatest proportion of arrivals to London during the period of the Games, accounting for 46% of total expected arrivals, and North America is second with a 23% share; this represents an increase of 18% and 10% on the same period in 2011 for Europe and North America respectively. The third biggest market, Asia, the source region for 9% of arrivals, has seen a significant increase of 27% on 2011 bookings.
• New York is most popular source city for travel to London in the US
  The 12% increase in expected traffic from the USA to London during the Olympics period is being fuelled by traffic from the nation’s largest cities: New York City, in particular, is seeing a dramatic 48% increase in bookings to London for this period compared with 2011. San Francisco is also seeing a remarkable growth, up 29% from 2011, with Chicago and Washington also registering increases of 13% and 18% respectively. Remarkably, one large US source city – Los Angeles – is seeing a decrease in traffic to London over the period 23rd July to 12th August, at -3% compared to 2011.
• London’s ‘aggregated traveller index’[2] up 7%
  From the Opening Ceremony onwards, throughout the duration of the Olympic Games, London will experience a high level of occupancy (i.e. number of visitors staying in London), with numbers 7% higher than last year for the period between the Opening and Closing ceremonies. The greatest increase in occupancy compared with 2011 is between 4 and 8 August.
• Londoners defer outbound trips until post-Olympics period
  It seems that Londoners intend to remain in the city and enjoy the spectacle during the Olympics period: departures to any destination from London for the period before the Opening Ceremony are 5% below 2011 levels. Across the whole summer (from 2 July until 2 September) 2% fewer Londoners will leave the city than in 2011. However, it seems that Londoners aren’t forgoing a holiday altogether, simply deferring it, as three weeks after the Closing Ceremony, departures will increase to 10% more than in the same period in 2011.

Holger Taubmann, SVP Distribution at Amadeus, says: “This data highlights the significant opportunity for travel providers and businesses in London over the Olympics period, particularly during the dates when occupancy will surge compared with last year, that is, between 4 and 8 August. Businesses, especially those within the leisure and retail sectors, will have big opportunities by catering to the needs of travellers from all over the world this summer. The data also indicates another period that will be of crucial importance to UK-based travel sellers: the weeks after the Closing Ceremony, when many Londoners will depart from the city.”

Olivier Jager, CEO of Forward Data, says: “Market intelligence like this is essential to travel sellers and travel providers as they assess not only how and when travelers make their decisions, but also the probable impact of major events on their businesses, and allows them to capitalise on the opportunity such an event offers. This data represents actual bookings made, so travel providers can base their business decisions upon it with confidence.”

The forecast provided by ForwardKeys.com, a business intelligence tool launched by Forward Data in partnership with Amadeus, is based on actual air booking data available as of 12 May, This analysis is the second in a series of forecast reports examining how the London 2012 Olympics is affecting global travel trends.

Please see for extended comment on the trends above.

For more information, please download the Research Snapshot at

About the research
Forward Data SL, a Market Research and Consulting Company for the Travel Industry, publishes ForwardKeys.com a website and a database aggregating Air reservation information worldwide. This study is based on air reservations processed through online and off-line Travel Agencies worldwide that use any one of the 4 leading reservation systems (GDS), as aggregated within ForwardKeys.com database. Data analysis concluded on 12/05/2012, meaning any air reservations made after this date are excluded from this analysis.

Facts, figures and observations published in this document are no projection or extrapolations, but concrete and factual information based on the information available at the time and market fluctuations. However, these trends respond to the interpretation of the data and cannot be viewed as facts.

The analysis is based on all reservations stored in ForwardKeys.com database for travellers around the world that have made an air reservation to travel to London on the period of 2nd July to 2nd of September, with a special focus on the “Olympics period”, from 23rd July to 12th August.

About Forward Keys
Market Research and Consulting Company Forward Data SL, a company registered in Spain, publishes www.forwardkeys.com, and an innovating service bringing a new approach to operational traveller data intelligence for Hotel Chains, Tourism boards and Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) leveraging non confidential Air reservation information.

ForwardKeys provides DMOs and Tourism Boards with travellers’ trends information and means to monitor and measure the impact of their marketing efforts to drive more business to their destination.

ForwardKeys provides Hotel chains with ways to quantify future demand and anticipate market trends to optimise sales, marketing and revenue management efforts, using traveller’s reservation, source market, arrival, return date and future travel information.

For more information about our company and services, please contact us at [email protected], or visit our web site at .

About Amadeus
Amadeus is a leading transaction processor and provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel and tourism industry. Customer groups include travel providers (e.g. airlines, hotels, rail, ferries, etc.), travel sellers (travel agencies and websites), and travel buyers (corporations and individual travellers).

The group operates a transaction-based business model and processed more than 947 million billable travel transactions in 2011.

Amadeus has central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters), Nice (development) and Erding (operations – data processing centre) and regional offices in Miami, Buenos Aires, Bangkok and Dubai. At a market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations through 73 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations covering 195 countries.

Amadeus is listed on the Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia stock exchanges and trades under the symbol “AMS.MC”. For the year ended December 31, 2011 the company reported like-for-like revenues of €2,712 million and EBITDA of €1,039 million. The Amadeus group employs around 10,000 people worldwide, with 123 nationalities represented at the central offices.

To find out more about Amadeus please visit

© 2012 Forward Data, S.L.
Forward Data, S.L. is providing the information in this document “AS IS” without warranty and for informational purposes only, and shall not be liable for any damages, including loss of profit or goodwill, for any matter arising out of or relating to the use of this information or any statement made in this document. The information may be used or republished as long as ForwardKeys.com is credited as the origin. ForwardKeys is a registered trademark of Forward Data S.L. Other company, product, or service names used herein may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners in Spain, the USA or other countries.