London restaurant owners mixed on impact of 2012 Olympics

The start of the 2012 Summer Olympics is just two days away, which means approximately one billion people will descend on London to watch, cover, or participate in the games (give or take 999 million or so).

With so many hungry tourists roaming the streets, U.K. restaurant owners have be to pretty excited about the potential new business, right? Actually, some aren’t all that optimistic. According to Bloomberg.com, “(s)ome fret that regular diners will work from home and avoid the center of the city, while road closures mean that deliveries will have to be made during the night.”

“I was in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympics and business was not good,” said London restauranteur Joel Antunes. “This time, my plan is to take the opportunity to visit family in France.”

But not everyone is as pessimistic. “It’s an opportunity for one of the greatest food cities in the world to showcase what we are all about,” said Stuart Gillies, head chef at Gordon Ramsay’s Boxwood Café.

MARKETING LESSON: A sudden influx of traffic can be good or bad. It all depends on your outlook and how hard you’re willing to work to appease that traffic.