London 2012 Olympics: what is London's tourism legacy? - Telegraph.co.uk

As a result of the city's raised media exposure, the 2012-2017 legacy phase is expected to see an additional 1.1million visitors worth £900m. The challenge that now faces London is twofold: How does the city covert that exposure into real visitors and how does it maintain the relationships that it built with the media?

"London: Now See it For Yourself" is the global campaign I put in place to convert "viewers into visitors" immediately after the Games. With a return of 4:1, the campaign may deliver £4m of incremental visitor spend. That's some way off the £900m target. Australia did not commit significant budget to post-Games marketing, thinking that by hosting it people would flock to the city afterwards. That didn't happen.

I worked for a London radio station in Sydney during the 2000 Games. When we returned to London there was 'Sydney/Australia' fatigue. So how does London tackle this challenge? It must show gratitude to journalists that gave magnificent exposure to the city; refrain from pitching stories to them for some time; and indicate when it will be returning to them and what the nature of the story will be.

Team London Ambassadors pose with a Canadian tourist in Trafalgar Square. Image: Alamy

Finally, the city charged itself with warmly welcoming visitors during the Games. Some 8,000 volunteers became "Team London Ambassadors". Situated throughout the city, their purpose was to ensure that people got to where they wanted to go and received inspiring and practical information. They have been repeatedly deemed one of the most successful aspects of the Games. During October half term they were back into action at Eurostar's arrivals terminal and they welcomed American football fans to an NFL match at Wembley. The scheme clearly had an impact on visitors and it must now be able to prove that it does persuade visitors to spend more money in the capital. The city, in turn, should thank volunteers by providing more rewards for their tireless efforts – free entry tickets for example.

London during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was a truly amazing place to be. I was proud to work for the host city and to tell London's story to the world. But London must not be complacent and simply believe that it has the right to a positive tourism legacy – it must continue to support an industry that is invaluable to its economy and global reputation.

Martine Ainsworth Wells was the marketing and communications director for London & Partners before and during the Games period. She is now the director of agency Ainsworth & Wells, which advises on and implements promotional activities and strategies for international and domestic destinations. Follow her @MartineAWells.